Just Your Average Murder Case (and Maybe a Few Love Interests)
by thetoastdevil
Summary: Detectives Kirkland and Héderváry are for the most part dedicated to the murder case of Gilbert Beilschmidt. And hey, along the way the meet some friends, a few foes, and even fall in love. Oh, but not with each other, that'd be gross. Contains mainly USUK and maybe a teensy weensy bit of Aushun/Pruhun. T for Language.
1. 1: Not So Undercover

_A/N: So, guess who finally got around to writing some USUK (with Hungary as a third wheel sorry not sorry don't think she'd be sorry either though)? Me! It's also my first non-crossover! I've had a blast writing this but have been really debating whether to post it or not. I know it isn't too polished so tell me if there is anything I need to fix, please and thank you. I'm actually a few chapters into this, but I'd like to maybe update weekly or bi-weekly depending on the demand._

_I'm actually really excited about writing the Hungary and England crime solving duo kind of thing too, so hopefully my passion for this continues._

_Also, to any fans of the PoTO: Austrian Special Addition, I'm so sorry I keep writing other things and getting off the course of that, so I think I'm going to start updating weekly for that too. It is summer, so I'm a lot freer (freer? Free-er?) than I was before summer, then again, I am working on a novel for Camp Nanowrimo, but I should have time for this and PoTO: ASA! _

_Again, this story has been more for the fun of it than the quality (that's most of my stories anyways but I seriously haven't edited this like, at all :P), and I'm ready and open for constructive criticism for it! I hope for it!_

_Thanks for reading! Enjoy, yadayadayada._

_-Caroline_

_P.S. I don't own Hetalia or McDonalds, quite frankly, I don't know if I was even allowed to use Mickey-Ds name in this D:!_

* * *

"How the hell did we find ourselves here?" Arthur spat, sending his partner a bitter glare.

"Hm?" The girl standing next to him replied, sweeping her brown hair over her shoulder in a tasteful swoop. "We do need to eat." She said, glancing at a man close by who was very obviously ogling her. She stepped away casually, to the other side of Arthur.

"At this shitty excuse for a restaurant?" He huffed in resentment. "I can barely breathe over the smell of grease and whatever they have back there to replace meat."

"Well, aren't you posh," The girl quipped, eyeing him disapprovingly. "It's _fast food. _Some people can't afford better."

"Anyone should try to afford better." Arthur said, finalizing the topic.

The girl was quiet for a moment. "You don't have to order anything, we're here for...research."

"Yes, but undercover research. It may be odd to not order."

"Not much odder than a guy in a sweater vest at a McDonalds." The girl sing-songed, pulling out a phone and typing a text to someone. Arthur peered over her shoulder, smirking.

"Really getting into this undercover stuff, aren't you? Texting so casually." He chuckled, and she sent him a glare.

"It's just Roderich, he needs me to pick up some eggs at the store." She said dismissively, as though she wanted the subject to stray away from this 'undercover stuff'.

"Eggs." Arthur smiled, tapping his foot.

"Hey, I- unlike you, do have a life outside of work."

"Oh Detective-" Arthur was sent a sharp green stare, and he cleared his throat. "-Liza, your normal life does bore me so."

"Murder investigations aren't something I'd call normal." She muttered, masking it with a giggle when she noticed a couple teenage onlookers. She went into chatting about something girly and unsuspicious.

As Arthur drowned out his partner's voice, he looked around, frowning when his eyes fell on the McDonald's breakfast menu. Since this was the States, he doubted they had tea. Coffee would have to suffice, he guessed. Sighing, he looked through the mass of people and towards the back, to the employees.

In the back there would be manager Alfred Jones. From what the Lieutenant had said to him and his partner, Detective Héderváry, it was obvious Alfred would have key information on the case they'd been working on, why they had to be undercover was unknown to Arthur, but he wasn't one to disobey. Sometimes people needed coaxing from the seemingly normal to get the information out of them.

When Arthur was finally in the front of the line, he grabbed his partner's elbow and stepped forward. Detective Héderváry didn't miss a beat, she smiled at the overweight and oily man behind the register, quickly ordering a sausage biscuit with a smoothie, and an Iced Coffee for Arthur without even asking. He didn't protest, seeing as it was what he would've ordered for himself anyways.

Under his partner's instructions he found a table, not having to wait there long before she slammed a tray down in front of him.

"Awful service." She complained, not caring when people eyed her with disdain. It seemed she was going back on what she had said earlier.

Detective Héderváry just didn't seem to fit the bill well enough, even in disguise people seemed to know they didn't fit here.

"I wish they would let us go back to working on theft- or drugs?" Arthur mumbled. "I'd prefer it to this."

"Oh, come on," Detective Héderváry said, punching his shoulder half-heartedly. "You don't mean that. Theft was fun, sure, but drugs? That's a low blow. We'd have to be undercover even more."

Arthur groaned, resting his head on his hand and closing his eyes. He felt a straw prod his cheek and opened his eyes to see his partner holding out his coffee with a smirk. "You always get like this when you're tired, get some caffeine in you! You have a living to make."

Arthur complied reluctantly, while the other Detective eyed him impatiently, she had only taken one bite out of her sausage biscuit and was tapping her fingers to an unidentified beat, nails clicking on the table for two. Arthur was the first to stand up but Detective Héderváry followed suit.

"Y'ready?" She asked, smiling. It was like her to get excited about this. Arthur nodded and her grin widened, she threw everything into the trash bin aside from the biscuit and walked with a quick pace up to one of the employees behind the register.

"Can I help you?" The employee said with little enthusiasm. Detective Héderváry flashed one of her trademark Hollywood grins and eyed the employee, who seemed a bit stunned for a second.

"Yeah, may I speak to your manager?" She asked, her tone bright.

"Why?" The employee said. "Is there a problem with your food? We can just make another-"

"No," She interrupted, her smile not faltering. "I need to speak to your manager."

The employee seemed to have a wordless staring battle with Detective Héderváry, but their shoulders soon hunched forward and they blinked in exhausted annoyance, the employee waved a hand towards Arthur's partner in defeat. "Fine, if you'd just wait a second."

Arthur, to be honest, was expecting someone similar to the employee they had originally ordered their food from, someone weighty and old, so when Alfred Jones came into view he was slightly-

Stunned.

How stunned? Well, stunned enough for a sharp intake of breath that was loud enough to cause Detective Héderváry to laugh at him for a moment.

Alfred F. Jones was not only fucking fit and young, he was fucking fit and attractive.

Arthur knew the fast food chain's uniforms weren't form-fitting, but he found himself willing them to be. The manager was wearing a white shirt and red tie that had been put on rather half-assedly. A black baseball cap with the trademark M rested on messy blonde hair, and Alfred wore glasses that seemed to make his blue eyes stand out more. He fixed an earpiece as he approached both Arthur and Detective Héderváry, showing off a rather muscular build you'd be surprised to find in a McDonalds employee.

"Hey, did you guys have a problem?" Alfred asked, eyebrows raised in concern. His eyes seemed to scan Detective Héderváry for a moment (as most male eyes did), and then they fell on Arthur, Alfred seemed taken aback for a second, and the boy visibly stiffened, but the moment was gone before Arthur could analyze it and was replaced with a rather large grin from the McDonalds manager, brightening his features.

Arthur gulped, trying to mask the fear that he didn't stand the slightest chance. He tried to find words- anything. Any words he could grip onto.

Detective Héderváry was the one to step forward though, her amusement long forgotten. "Yes, unfortunately."

Alfred smiled in confusion, beckoning her for more information with an almost comedic wave of his hand.

"This bread seems to be awfully stale." She sniffed, acting uptight for the fun of acting uptight.

"Well, you didn't need me for that! Luke here can just fix you up a new one." Alfred said, holding onto his earpiece as he pulled off his hat, cocking his head at the employee from earlier, whose face had formed into an expression of anger and annoyance.

"Oh," Detective Héderváry remarked. "It's that easy."

"It's that easy," Alfred repeated, nodding at her. He ran a hand through his hair and grinned again. "Actually, I'd like to thank you, you guys got me out of a call I didn't really want back there." He laughed, setting his hat down next to the register. Was this guy for real?

Arthur's partner smiled warmly, and he could tell she was genuine with it. "Yeah, well, to keep you out of that call-" She winked, then lowered her voice and leaned forward. "Have you heard about the murder right around here?"

_Wow, way to throw him the curve, Detective. _Arthur thought dully.

Alfred's expression darkened for less than a second, and he soon brightened up again. "Yeah, actually, it happened in my apartment building." He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

_We know. _Arthur thought, restraining himself from an eye-roll. He stepped forward, towards Alfred. "Did you see any of it? Do you know what happened? Everything has been super vague and-"

"Oh my god! Are you British?" Alfred interrupted, nearly jumping with excitement, instead slamming his hands on the counter in front of him and leaning forward in interest.

Arthur blinked slowly, feeling his bit of respect for Alfred (that had mainly come from his physique) slowly fall away. "Y- yes."

"Aw, shit- sorry. I just completely interrupted you." He laughed, sounding embarrassed. Alfred seemed to think back to what Arthur had said earlier, and made a face that said 'I really don't want to talk about this'. Wonderful.

"Well, I didn't really see it-" Alfred directed his attention to Arthur and winced at his annoyed expression. "Okay, well, I honestly didn't see a thing." He scratched at his jaw, looking for nonexistent stubble.

Detective Héderváry's smile waned slightly. "Huh. Did you know the guy?"

Alfred appeared to be thinking. "Well- not very well. He threw these crazy parties from time to time," He chuckled a bit sadly. "He wasn't ever rude, he just came across as kind of self involved."

"Self involved? A dead guy?" Detective Héderváry laughed.

"Well, obviously not anymore." Alfred shrugged, straightening his tie. "He had this thing with the word awesome. I don't know, maybe it was some self-confidence boost?"

"He sounds like a wanker." Arthur remarked.

Alfred laughed and looked at him, his mouth twitching. "If you had said anything other than-" He paused and put on an extraordinarily bad British accent that made Arthur feel a bit insulted. "_wanker-_" He returned to his normal voice. "I might've thrown you out of here for not respecting a dead guy."

"You can't do that." Arthur snapped, slightly annoyed by the mocking in Alfred's voice.

Alfred held up a hand in peace, still obviously amused. "Yeah, it's a free country, I guess. I was just kidding." His smile fell, and he continued "He was sort of an asshole, though." Alfred laughed wryly, wringing his hands.

Detective Héderváry looked from one of the men to the other, a faint smile still clinging to her expression. She finally turned back to Alfred, her face betraying her rehearsed sympathy. "What was his name?"

Alfred seemed to measure if he should tell her or not and finally said with a sigh "Gilbert. His last name was something German, kind of hard to pronounce. Uh- Beidschmidt or something?"

_Beilschmidt. _Arthur wanted to say, even though it would surely blow Detective Héderváry and his' weak cover.

"Yeah- uh, I don't know too much about the guy. Sorry," There was a short pause before Alfred spoke again. "He was sort of in a- in some kind of- relationship with my brother, but I never got into that."

Detective Héderváry stiffened and glanced at Arthur, willing him to remember that bit of information. Arthur nodded at her ever so slightly, then studied Alfred, who looked miserable, as if he felt he'd said too much.

Luckily, saving them from farther awkwardness, the employee named Luke returned, carrying a paper sack that was nearly dripping with grease from the sausage biscuit.

"Oh! Hey!" Alfred said after thanking Luke and handing them the paper bag. "I can get you guys some coupons, if you'd like?" He didn't wait for an answer, turning with a thumbs-up and rushing off somewhere to grab whatever Arthur was planning to throw away right as he exited the fast food joint.

Detective Héderváry was eyeing Arthur with a scandalous smile that made him fear she was going to attack him like a lioness would her prey. She opened her mouth to say something, but didn't get the chance, as Alfred appeared rather suddenly, two slips of paper between his pointer and index finger. He stepped through a small gate and onto the opposite side of the register, handing a paper to Arthur and then his partner. He shook each of their hands.

"Sorry for any inconvenience, I hope this makes up for it? Next time you're here say you know Alfred too, alright?" He clapped his hands together, his eyes suddenly widening. "Oh, I don't know any of your names either!"

"I'm Elizaveta, you can call me Liza, though." Detective Héderváry smiled when she received a nod from Alfred. He turned to Arthur.

"Oh- Arthur." Arthur replied quickly, trying to hide the suspicion in his voice. Was Alfred daft enough to think they'd see each other again, as well as remember the other? Well, Arthur would think he'd remember Alfred, but their was no way Alfred would him.

"Arthur," Alfred repeated quietly, grinning widely. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Artie," He paused. "And Liza! Have a nice day, you two!" He waved and smiled one last time, before spinning back into the employee's part of the McDonalds.

Alfred had called Arthur _Artie._ The fucker had called him Artie. It took a lot of willpower to avoid vocalizing a correction.

Detective Héderváry grabbed Arthur, and as they exited she threw the sausage biscuit away, without even opening the paper bag.

"Well, that didn't get as much information as I would've liked," She said offhandedly. She checked her watch. "It's ten, we don't have to be back at the station until twelve. How does Italian brunch sound?" Arthur's partner cocked her head at the Italian restaurant across the street.

"Yes, some quality food does sound nice." Arthur retorted. He looked at his coupon, reading over the 'dollar off this' and 'dollar off that'. He sighed, moving towards the trash bin before something caught his eye. Written in sloppy handwriting and marker at the bottom of the page it read-

**Call me or something! (631) XXX-XXXX**

**-Alfred**

Arthur groaned aloud, in shock and slight annoyance.

Oh, fuck.

* * *

_Footnote: So I originally did have a phone number for Alfred that spelled out freedom haha, but realized it probably wasn't the best decision to put it in, seeing is that is probably some poor New Yorker's phone number. By the way, I'm planning for the story to be in the suburbs of the city...So, they aren't the official city police department or anything, don't worry. I don't think they'd pay this much attention to a murder if that was the case TBH. Originally this story started on the idea that I wanted Iggy and Liza to interact, so why not make them Police Detectives working together?! The two's interactions are really fun to write._

_Sadly, I don't know much about actual Law Inforcement stuffs, and I'm kind of just winging it because when I tried to do research on the rankings it was three in the morning and I was kind of just confused and feeling like: fuck this I'm just going to do it like the television shows. I'm leaning towards these two being more detective-y that just normal police-y, so if you can kind of understand and go along with me on that it'd be appreciated._

_Seeya soon? If nobody says they want the bi-weekly update I'll probably make this weekly, so next Friday I hope!_


	2. 2: Mazzetto

_A/N: Okay, I'm just really done. This is like my third time writing the author's note and the chapter is like my fifth draft of it? My computer has been acting up lately and just randomly updating and shutting off constantly, so therefore this doesn't end up a very good chapter. I believe it was good at some point, but whatever it is now is shit._

_Just, I'm sorry guys, bear with me, please. The story will pick up and be a lot better I promise._

_I'd like to call this Exposition Part II, because that's really all it is. I apologize profusely for the plot of this chapter too, it's kind of compact but all over the place. I just really don't feel good about how this turned out. _

_On a brighter note: Thanks for everyone that followed/reviewed/favorited, you're awesome! I hope you enjoy the story as much as I enjoy writing it!(most of the time when my computer is working) :3_

_So, yeah, I'm updating a day late and blaming technical difficulties on the quality._

_I'm in a bad mood, sorry._

_Welp, enjoy and stuff._

_-Caroline_

* * *

Mazzetto was about the best restaurant you could find in the county. Since it was the suburb of the City (prized posession of New York), starting a food place there was usually not on any businessman's mind. The owner of the place had actually made it very clear that he had tried to find a lot in the city, but couldn't afford anything, and unfortunately had to look to this 'shithole'.

Though, maybe it was for the best. The county's people liked to call Mazzetto their best kept secret.

Not that it was that good though, as Arthur had said multiple times.

Mazzetto had quite uncommon hours, opening at nine thirty in the morning and closing around midnight, though the workers were often lenient with closing time. Seeing as it was competing with a McDonalds across the street, it made sense for the open hours to be weird.

Detective Héderváry practically skipped towards the joint, she was always happy to go there, an old friend owned the place and she had always had a thing for company that wasn't Arthur.

The restaurant looked more like an old firehouse than anything else, it was clad in red brick with the same old sign that had been hanging up since it was open, not much gave away that it was a place to eat.

Again, best kept secret.

Detective Héderváry swung the door open, ringing a little bell that hung up above it. From the inside, Mazzetto looked quite a bit more classy, with it's dim lighting and tables with fancy white table-cloths, it looked very different compared to the outside of the building.

The place was empty, aside from two waiters sitting on a table together. One of them grumbled something as they stood up to greet the two, but they hadn't even reached the door when Detective Héderváry called out "Vargas!" She signaled that she didn't need the waiters, then waved a hand above her head. There was no reply aside from what sounded like a groan from across the room.

"Hey, I know you're there!" Arthur's partner continued with a accusatory tone and predatory smile.

"Just give me a fucking second!" An accented voice yelled back. Arthur heard a couple crashes and then a bang before 'Vargas' appeared with a sour expression.

Detective Héderváry rushed forward and greeted the man with a hug. "Lovino, it's been awhile!"

"I wish that was true," Lovino muttered in reply, up close Arthur recognized him as Mazzetto's manager. "Well, go ahead, sit down, ruin my morning."

Detective Héderváry nodded, leaning towards Arthur. "That means we just woke him up."

Arthur eyed Lovino in sympathy as he sat down in a creaky wooden chair. Lovino frowned back at him.

"We'll have something brought out." He said through narrowed eyes.

Detective Héderváry nodded in approval. Yelling "Don't poison anything!" after him. Lovino glanced back at her quick enough to give the one-fingered salute.

"He cares," She reassured Arthur. "He'll bring out something good, more than I can say then when you cook."

Arthur swallowed, smirking. "Ha ha, you really are hilarious." He was silent for a moment, trying to avoid the subject of a certain case they had been working on, he spoke again "So, how's the fiance?"

"Hu- Oh! Yeah, he's good." Detective Héderváry said, scratching the back of her neck with a slightly sheepish smile. She looked like she wanted to say more, but refrained from doing so.

"Didn't you need to pick something up for him? What was it- Eggs?" He asked.

"Oh, yes. Thanks for reminding me." Detective Héderváry replied, turning away to look at the pictures on the walls and causing the table to descend into an oddly awkward silence.

The pictures decorating Mazzetto were mainly family photos, and many of them were at different Italian landmarks. Lovino was in nearly all of them, along with another boy who looked a lot like him, but had happier facial features. There was an older man in some of them, with a lot of stubble and curly hair, Lovino looked younger in all the pictures with him.

The largest picture, though, didn't have the older man or the other boy. Lovino, who looked the same as he did now other than an uncharacteristic half smile, stood next to an attractive man who had wrapped his arm around the manager's shoulder. A pretty blonde woman with her hair pulled back by a bow poked her head out from behind Lovino, and a tall stoic man who looked like he was related to the woman stood next to her. Arthur wondered about Lovino's relations with these people.

Arthur's focus on the picture was quickly pulled away by Detective Héderváry, though.

"So...you're coming to the wedding, right?" She looked at Arthur expectantly, her eyes very green and very hopeful.

"Yes, I wrote the date on my calendar." Arthur said, sighing. He wasn't sure how enthusiastic he was about going to this wedding, but he couldn't imagine it being too bad, Roderich seemed like a good guy.

"Calender?" Detective Héderváry snorted. "How- homosexual of you." She smiled wickedly.

"What? It's a good way to keep track of things!" Arthur looked away, attempting to think of anything to change the subject. She _couldn't _find out about Alfred Jones.

Detective Héderváry was quick to adapt, though, she wasn't going to let the possible conversation subject of Alfred Jones to get away. "On the subject of your very blatant sexuality, that McDonalds manager was cute."

Arthur tried to keep his expression indifferent. "If by cute you mean annoying and childish, then yes, very _cute_."

"He's childish? You two would be perfect together!" After being sent a glare, Arthur's partner sat back, faking defeat. "Well, that's a better response than when I suggested that Frenchman you'd be so cute with."

"Francis Bonnefoy? You don't know him well enough to understand how incredibly-" Arthur shuddered "-Disgusting he is."

Luckily, that was the moment Lovino decided to return, carrying a tray with two coffees and slamming it on the table before pulling up a wooden chair. It creaked as he settled into it, the back of the chair and Lovino facing them. "So, what brings you bitches here today?"

Detective Héderváry took a sip of her coffee, wincing when she realized it was hot. "We're out on the job." She said, after recovering.

"For what?" Lovino replied, a bit suspiciously.

"A murder." Arthur said, Lovino turned to him, his expression suddenly pained.

"Wait? Did you guys get Gilbert's case?" His voice sounded suddenly hoarse.

Detective Héderváry fell out of her seat, her arm sliding across the table and nearly knocking her coffee over. "Wait, you know him?"

Lovino grabbed Detective Héderváry, frowning angrily again. "Don't fucking stain the table-cloth!" She looked up at him expectantly, and he groaned. "Most people know Gilbert around here, it's not a big deal."

"How did you know him?" Arthur asked casually, trying to sound like he wasn't questioning him. Lovino wasn't stupid, though, he sniffed and looked at Arthur with a bit of a disgusted expression.

"Antonio knows him better than I do, those bastards were thick as thieves." Lovino said, standing up and pulling his chair around so he was sitting at the table normally.

Detective Héderváry looked troubled from her seat. "Antonio- Wait! Is Gilbert one of the 'two amigos' he always talks about?"

Lovino nodded slowly, scooting his chair back and setting his feet on the table. "Yeah he's-" He cleared his throat. "He's not taking it very well." Detective Héderváry closed her eyes, sighing and rubbing her temples.

"Who's Antonio?" Arthur asked, confused.

Arthur's partner opened her eyes and flipped her hair over her shoulder, her moment of sadness suddenly gone, she twisted around in her chair and pointed at the large picture that Arthur had been looking at earlier. "He's the one with the dark hair and the arm around Lovino." Lovino reddened at this but covered it up with a scowl.

"Are you two together?" Arthur questioned. Lovino's eyes widened and he waved his arms around, shaking his head.

"N-No! Why would you think that? Antonio's a fucking bastard." He said, blushing furiously. He seemed to glance around for something to change the subject. The three sat in silence for a moment.

Arthur was surprised when Lovino jumped towards him and pulled something out of his jacket pocket. "What are you-" He started, but Lovino had stood up, holding out a slip of paper.

It took Arthur a moment, but he realized that it was the coupon from McDonalds. Oh, no. This wasn't happening.

Things played out in almost slow motion.

"Seriously? You brought a McDonalds coupon into my restau-" Lovino paused, pulling his head back a bit and reading something near the bottom. "Wha- What the fuck?"

Arthur attempted to grab the coupon from Lovino, but he moved his hand away. Coincidentally, he moved it right towards Detective Héderváry, who took it from him with haste.

It took Arthur's partner a moment to understand, but her face brightened almost comically. "Kirkland." She said quietly.

"Yes?" Arthur replied.

"Kirkland!" She repeated, more excitedly.

"Yes?" Arthur said again, not hiding the annoyance in his voice.

"Were you going to tell me about this?" Detective Héderváry looked up, her smile twitching.

"About what?" Arthur said casually, pulling the coupon away from his partner.

"About what?" She laughed, looking at Lovino in exasperation. "About what? A cute guy basically just asked you out! You didn't even-" She shook her head and sighed disappointedly, twisting a lock of hair around her finger.

"We were questioning him about a murder, if you forgot," Arthur ignored Lovino's wince from next to him. "That's hardly romantic. It's twisted for even _you _to think so."

"He didn't know we were questioning him." Detective Héderváry protested.

"Exactly," Arthur said. "I won't be starting a relationship based on a lie."

Lovino spoke up for the first time in a while. "You aren't from some crime show, it's not a huge fucking deal." He snorted. "Dating is only complicated if you make it so." He said matter-of-factly, chuckling at himself.

"Says the guy who's so sexually confused he can't even discern a love interest from someone he hates." Detective Héderváry said, rolling her eyes.

"Kirkland is a lost cause for your sick and twisted games." Lovino hissed.

"You're a lost cause." Detective Héderváry snapped back childishly.

"I'm not a cause to begin with." Arthur groaned "He probably meant to give the thing to you." He pointed to his partner, who shook her head.

"He was very specific, if you remember, about handing out those coupons."

Lovino held a hand out for the coupon again, and Arthur handed it to him reluctantly. "You know, I did think Alfred was straight." Lovino said. "Annoying as fuck, but straight."

Detective Héderváry waved a hand. "Anyone can surprise you."

"Can we stop?" Arthur groaned. "We have two people we can question about the case."

Thankfully, Detective Héderváry took the bait, forgetting about Arthur's relationship status for a moment. "Oh, yeah." She thought for a moment. "We can have you or someone look into Alfred's brother, and-" She looked at Lovino.

"Would you mind possibly giving me a call when Antonio's okay to talk?" Detective Héderváry said quickly, clapping her hands together and leaning onto the table.

Lovino scowled. "Antonio's got too much to deal with already, I don't think he knows anything, either. Get someone else."

Detective Héderváry looked confused for a moment, as if she wasn't expecting that answer.

Her confusion disapparated, though, when the bell by Mazzetto's door rang, and a few people stumbled in. Lovino was about to get up, but Detective Héderváry tapped his shoulder before he did.

"Hey, I'm being nice. He really doesn't have a choice in the matter." Arthur's partner said softly.

Lovino looked at Arthur, who shrugged. "She's right." The manager stood up with an eye roll, annoyed.

"I'm not going to be the messenger. How about you talk to Antonio yourselves." He glanced back at the table, arms crossed. "Also, Liza, I'm not fucking letting you get away without paying for those coffees." With that, Lovino walked away.

On the way out of Mazzetto, Detective Héderváry gave some money to a waiter.

She nodded at Arthur, saying she'd see him back at the station. With a wave of her car keys and a goodbye, she had driven away.

Now it was time for another day at their literal workplace.

* * *

_So, yeah, sorry about how this turned out. I'm getting a new computer soon so hopefully you'll have higher quality chapters and a happier me!_

_Again, I beg you to bear with me._

_Also, I kind of accidentally Spamano'd just a bit..._

_-Caroline_

_P.S. Sorry, I won't be able to update this coming week because I'll be at Kings Island. Sorry! Thanks for understanding!_


	3. 3: Change of Plans?

_A/N: Guess who's back (back again). Hello to all the new followers, and everyone else too, of course. Sorry I wasn't able to update last week, in case you didn't see, I was on vacation. That might've been for the best, because as of last week I was really tired of my computer's shit, but after an amusement park and a concert I was far more forgiving. :) I'm having fun with this story so far, and I hope you are too!_

_Thanks to all reviewers and followers, you are all so greatly appreciated._

_Enjoy the chapter!_

* * *

Arthur's car wasn't one of the things he had pride in.

He had bought it as an only slightly used Ford, not having known about the problem with the gas and the weird sound the radio made when he turned it on. He had thought it would last him at the time. Arthur believed he was naive then, and had fallen for all the stupid tricks. It was probably too easy for the guys at the dealership to screw him over.

But, then again, it wasn't like he could afford anything better.

The odd thing was, his shitty excuse for a car had actually gained him a friend at the office. A friend that wasn't his partner and/or a girl, and was especially not into being personal.

Arthur had been outside on his break, why had he been out there? In all honesty he had probably been trying to escape the sound of Detective Héderváry's voice, which was most likely starting to give him a headache. When he had stepped outside he noticed someone leaning over his car, sliding their finger along a scratch that at been on it since he had gotten the car.

It took a moment for Arthur to remember who it was, but finally recognized him as a soft spoken Detective in his department.

The man stood up, pulling his arms behind his back, at Arthur's confused expression he stood up straighter, his face just barely betraying embarrassment.

"Hello," He said in greeting. "I was observing your car." The man had an Asian accent Arthur couldn't place at first, but then he remembered the mention of a Japanese man that was quite the genius in multiple cases.

When Arthur didn't reply immediately, the man had continued, stepping forward and bowing. "I'm Kiku Honda. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Arthur had held out a hand, and after a hesitant moment Kiku shook it.

"So, how's my car?" Arthur asked, hiding amusement.

"Oh, I was just thinking of other options. I have relations with someone who works for Lexus, and I'm sure he would love to look into another model." Kiku was quiet, he glanced back at Arthur's car. "It looks very manageable too, though. I would feel very lucky to have it."

Arthur had snorted at this, knowing he would be far more interested in a new car than keeping his piece of shit one.

Kiku looked embarrassed, and he turned his head to the other side of the parking lot. "My car is down there," The car he was indicating towards had turned out to be the one Arthur had always admired from afar, ironically enough. The safe Japanese model was envied by basically everyone at the office, including Detective Héderváry.

The two continued their typical and awkward conversation about cars until their break was over, and thus the impromptu friendship of Arthur and Kiku Honda was formed.

These days, though, Arthur's prime reason to talk to Kiku was for help. Kiku was a genius with picking apart mysteries, and as a Detective, Arthur felt him a very good ally to have. Because of this, he sought out Kiku right as he arrived at the office in his unimproved car.

One of Kiku's many talents was finding people. Anyone Arthur wasn't sure about where or how to find would end up leading him to ask Kiku for help.

And at this particular moment, he was doing just that.

Kiku eyed his computer screen, his expression typically indifferent. "You wanted an Antonio, right?"

Arthur scratched his jaw. "Yeah, I don't know his last name." Kiku raised his eyebrows at this and shook his head, his gaze flicking to Arthur for a second, and then the door.

"Does Miss Elizaveta know anything?" He asked, saying Detective Héderváry's first name with ease.

"Yes, I can go get her." Detective Héderváry hadn't arrived at the office at the time Arthur had, but he assumed she was here now.

Arthur stepped out of the room and found Detective Héderváry among the Officers and Investigators, she was sitting on top of her friend Lili Zwingli's desk, waving her hands in dramatic circles that usually indicated wedding talk. From what Arthur knew, Lili was one of her bridesmaids.

He made eye contact with Detective Héderváry and cocked his head towards Kiku's office, she gave him a thumbs up and mouthed 'one minute'. She lept off the desk after waving goodbye to Lili, making her way towards Arthur and yelling "Fuck off!" at an dick Officer who had apparently commented on her 'great ass'.

She hugged a bewildered Kiku when she entered his office, reminding Arthur that she was closer than he was with nearly all his friends.

Kiku cleared his throat. "Hello, Elizaveta."

"So, what do you little shits want?" Detective Héderváry said with a smile, clapping her hands together.

"We wanted to know names," Kiku said. "Arthur doesn't seem to know any information I can use." His voice lacked the annoyance Arthur would've expected.

But Arthur rolled his eyes at this and shrugged anyways. "I'm supposed to? I know the McDonalds manager's name, that's all I need."

"Oh, yeah, we need his brother's name, which we don't have." Detective Héderváry added, snapping her fingers at Kiku.

"Who was the McDonalds manager?" Something in Kiku's voice made Arthur feel like he already knew.

"Alfred F. Jones." Arthur said, feeling remorse as Detective Héderváry giggled at him.

"Ah," That was all Kiku could find to say for a moment, the room descended into silence for a beat.

"Do'ya know him?" Detective Héderváry asked, pressing her palms together and smiling mischievously.

It was silent again, aside from the clicks from Kiku's computer mouse. "Actually, I can pull him up on Facebook," Detective Héderváry's expression pleaded for an explanation, so he continued. "We were highschool friends, even though he was more athletic, he liked the video games I had." Kiku sounded bored.

"See if you can find his brother on Facebook, if you don't already know his name." Arthur said, turning to his partner to see if they were on the same page, she was in an entirely different universe.

"Say, by any chance, would you know if our friend Alfred has an interest in dudes?" After varying expressions from both people in the room, she shrugged happily "Just so we know." She gave Arthur a pointed look.

Kiku cleared his throat. "Well- uh...He's dated 'dudes' before, I believe." He paused sheepishly. "Alfred was fairly serious with someone in highschool, he never told me anything about it, though."

Detective Héderváry jumped, shaking her hips in a bit of a dancing motion. Arthur, meanwhile, was muttering every curse in the book to himself.

Kiku eyed the pair, his gaze stopping on Detective Héderváry before he spoke. "Was there something that happened to indicate Mr. Jones' sexuality?"

"No." Arthur snapped before his partner could speak. "Not anything that would be worth talking about."

Detective Héderváry opened her mouth in protest, but closed it when Kiku sent her an odd expression. Arthur's partner swallowed and slipped her gaze downward, a bit disappointed she hadn't had the chance to exploit Arthur's personal life farther. "So, do you know his brother?" She mumbled.

Kiku had a curious expression on his face. Arthur wasn't sure if it was because of the conversation about Alfred or what he was looking at on the computer.

His confusion was cleared, though, when Kiku turned his monitor around. The room seem to lose all sound for a second as both him and Detective Héderváry held their breath, exhaling simultaneously when Kiku stood up, pulling a pen out of his front shirt pocket and walking around his desk so he was next to his monitor and facing Arthur and his partner.

The monitor showed three men in a messy apartment, on the far left was obviously Alfred, holding up a beer as if he was toasting, his smile a bit less blinding then it was in person. He looked far more relaxed in a T-shirt, jeans, and a bomber jacket. His hand was mussing the person's hair next to him, who was more or less a shorter and thinner clone of Alfred that had longer hair. The man was smiling tightly, and he was rolling his eyes comically over his glasses, which had slid down his nose slightly. The third person in the picture was clearly not related to either Alfred or the other man, but he smiled along with them, crossing his arms boldly, daring someone to say he didn't belong. The third man was stocky and shorter than Alfred, his dark skin contrasted to the beige walls in the background, he was wearing a shirt that was for a Cuban sports team of some sort.

"I was confused by your statement for a second, as I didn't recall Arthur having a brother." Kiku clicked his pen, eyeing the picture on the screen.

Detective Héderváry sniffed, pointing to the picture. "Well, clearly you found that-"

Kiku nodded. "Yes, the one in obvious relation to Alfred is Matthew Williams, his half brother, I believe. Matthew wasn't around at the time Alfred and I were friends. Alfred's mother rendezvoused with Matthew in Canada for quite a while..."

"They seem pretty close for not having lived with each other most of their lives." Arthur muttered.

Kiku pulled his monitor back around as he returned to his seat at his desk. "I believe they contacted each other via phone and email, and that formed the majority of their relationship. I never put two and two together. Realizing they were brothers, that is. It's odd I didn't realize until now." The Japanese man looked troubled.

Kiku continued to type, clicking something with finality and leaning back in his seat. A printer next to his monitor became active, and soon enough and array of papers were in the tray. Kiku pulled them out and divided them, stapling two packets. "There's some of Matthew's information, including the address for his apartment." He handed a packet to both Arthur and Detective Héderváry. Arthur was reminded of the coupons from Alfred.

Detective Héderváry nodded to herself, reading over the papers. "We'll get a warrant and head over there tomorrow," She paused, looking at Arthur. "And we always have Antonio if Matthew won't talk."

Kiku's stiffened at the reminder of Antonio. "Oh, do you want me to-"

"Come on, I know Antonio's address." Arthur's partner scoffed. Kiku nodded, taking a blank paper from his printer and beginning to rhythmically rip it into smaller squares.

"Who is Antonio?" He asked. "And why are you so excited about what he could possibly know?" Kiku began to make folds in one of the squares.

"You know Lovino Vargas? Short, angry ball of fluff that manages Mazzetto?"

"Yes." The folded paper now seemed to sport a neck.

"Antonio lives with him, and when he's not messing around with Lovino, he's talking about his two best friends. Today, Lovino told Arthur and I that Gilbert, coincidentally, is one of those two friends."

Kiku looked up, setting his hands down. A paper crane rested between them. "Do you know the other of the two friends?"

Detective Héderváry shrugged. "I might. I don't know exactly who it is, but it's a small town, I'll ask Antonio about him."

"Lovino seemed to know Gilbert too." Arthur pointed out. "He could be useful."

"I guess." Detective Héderváry bit her lip, she seemed to spark an idea and brightened. "Hey, we could split up!"

"Split up? What the fuck is this, Scooby Doo?" Arthur snapped. To be honest, he relied on Detective Héderváry too much to stop working with her.

"I only mean for tomorrow." She said. "It makes sense, we'll have the questioning done twice as fast and can review notes tomorrow night."

"We're not in Secondary School either, Detective." Arthur could see where this idea was going, and he didn't like it.

Detective Héderváry raised a finger. "I-" She paused. "Don't know what that means. But seriously! We'll get paid better if this is done faster, maybe even promoted!"

"Your dreams are touching, but honestly, I don't understand why we'd have to do it that way, we just got promoted." Arthur shrugged, exasperated. "And see where it got us? Working undercover at fast food places."

Arthur's partner rolled her eyes, she looked at Kiku.

No, she was _not_. There was _no way_ she was bringing Kiku into this.

"I think it makes sense." Kiku said. "You can always go back together if you wanted to ask something else."

Arthur slapped a palm to his forehead, he had a sudden headache. "Fine! Go ahead, let's do it."

Detective Héderváry said exactly what Arthur expected her to. "Yay! I'll take Antonio, I know him better. You've got Matthew, alright?"

"Whatever." Arthur groaned. Detective Héderváry smiled more like the Cheshire Cat than he had ever seen before.

Arthur didn't even care when he shook the ground with the slam of his shitty car door. One more jiggly door handle wasn't going to bother him too much, right?

* * *

_Footnote: I really like Japan, he's just kind of a hard character to write about... especially with all the sass we're seeing in the Season 5 dub clips (don't you want to stop being such a fatbutt?) If you like Hetalia and haven't seen those yet what are you doing?_

_I'm kind of sad this is another chapter that's not moving the plot too fast, but it should pick up next chapter *evil laughter*._

_The third guy in the Facebook picture is Cuba, by the way. Also, if anyone was wondering about the people with Antonio and Lovino in the picture at Mazzetto, it was Belgium and Netherlands._

_Hope you enjoyed! Seeya next week!_

_-Caroline_


	4. 4: Dead Ends Do Not Exist

_A/N: Hey guys, sorry this is a day late. I was in the States and if you didn't know yesterday was the Fourth of July, I was super busy and had trouble posting this chapter so I just postponed it a day. I wanted to write a fic for the Fourth but since I was so busy it doesn't look like that's going to happen, maybe next year. I really like Canada and I'm terribly sorry if he's out of character, I got a bit carried away._

* * *

The next day Arthur stood at the door of an apartment he was happy to find was far away from Mazzetto and any McDonalds'. It was still in town, of course, but as far as small towns go, this apartment building was _far_. Arthur was surprised to find he hadn't had passed into the next county by accident.

But, having grown up on an island with only so much space, it was inevitable for Arthur to think everywhere that was more than a drive up the street was far.

His knock on the door rang out down the empty hall, and Arthur cleared his throat as discreetly as possible.

It took a while for someone to answer the door, but it creaked open slightly and a face appeared. "Yes?" A soft voice asked, the person surveyed Arthur.

For a moment, Arthur was taken aback. The face was Matthew, he knew this, but it took an odd amount of willpower to convince himself of that. The resemblance to Alfred was uncanny, and aside from their eye color and hair styles, they were practically the same person.

"Oh, uh, hello. Matthew Williams?" The man nodded slowly, and Arthur smiled slightly, pawing one of his pockets to find his badge. He showed it to Matthew, who began nodding. "I'm Detective Kirkland, I'm from the-"

"Yeah." Matthew said with another nod of acknowledgement. He opened his door further "You can come in."

Arthur stepped into the apartment, realizing that Alfred's had probably been the one in the picture on Facebook. This apartment was very neat, with very white walls and homely furniture, it was a long way away from the messy one that was shown in that picture.

"You picked a lucky day." Matthew was saying regretfully, striding through the apartment and putting away dishes on the counter. "My roommate isn't here and I'm out of work for now." Matthew turned around, leaning against the counter, he crossed his arms. "I've been expecting someone from the station for a while."

Arthur raised his eyebrows at Matthew, even if he was questioning him he didn't believe he had anything to do with the murder, it was an odd thing to say.

Matthew seemed to read his mind, and his eyes widened at his own poor choice of words. "Not that I have anything to do with-" He paused. "You don't think I-?"

"Of course not. I'm just here to ask a few questions." Arthur reassured him.

Matthew relaxed visibly. "Oh, you can sit." He indicated towards a tan couch that actually did look quite comfortable. Matthew started near a chair close to it, stopping and turning "Oh, do you want some coffee or something?"

Without intention, Arthur wrinkled his nose. He held up his tea in a travel mug. Matthew nodded and stood next to the chair, settling in it when Arthur sat on the couch.

"I believe your brother lives in the apartment building of Mr. Beilschmidt?" Arthur started. It felt refreshing to talk about Alfred so formally as opposed to what he had become used to in the last day.

"My brother?" Matthew seemed confused for a moment. "Oh, yeah. Al? Did he send you?"

Arthur was quiet for a moment, Matthew and Alfred didn't know he had been undercover, it might come up if he said he had gotten the information from the McDonalds manager. "I can't say." He said.

Matthew, luckily, fell for it. His expression was understanding. "Yeah. Al really didn't know Gil all that well so..." He paused. "I assumed he'd tell someone that I did." Matthew cleared his throat and looked away from Arthur.

"How did you know him?" Arthur asked, trying not to be annoyed by the weightless words Matthew was saying.

"I used to live with Alfred, along with my roommate now, Carlos. Gilbert was our neighbor, as you know. He lived a few doors down."

Arthur nodded, wondering if he should mark any of this down. He decided against it quickly when Matthew started talking again.

"He had these parties that were kind of crazy. Alfred, Carlos, and I all went to one together and coincidentally, Gilbert was a really good friend of my cousin." Matthew pushed his glasses back up his nose. "Al doesn't have much of a temper for my cousin anyways, so he wasn't really interested in pursuing a friendship, but Gilbert and I kind of bonded through Francis."

Arthur was still thinking about how strange it seemed that Alfred didn't want to pursue a friendship, but he stiffened at the name Francis. Matthew noticed and wrinkled his eyebrows in slight confusion.

"I-is something wrong?" Matthew practically whispered.

"Sorry, I just recognized the name. Is your cousin Mr. Francis Bonnefoy?" Francis had been someone Detective Héderváry had tried to set him up with, it hadn't gone well at all and as it turned out the two ended up despising each other. She liked to say there was a thin line between love and hate, but fuck that.

Matthew spoke again, not sounding surprised. "Yeah, it seems a lot of people in this town seems to know him," He laughed a bit warily and rubbed an eye. "Almost as many acquaintances as Al."

Arthur was quiet, Matthew studied him, reminding Arthur that he needed to go back to the job. He sighed, continuing. "So, how did you get to know Gilbert further?"

"Well, I attended some more parties." Matthew shrugged. "We talked, things like that." He pushed at his glasses and looked past Arthur, to his kitchen. "Are you sure you don't want coffee? I kind of want coffee."

"You're welcome to make some, I just don't want any." Arthur sneered unintentionally, Matthew wasn't very good at hiding avoidance.

Matthew gulped, nodding slowly and standing up, Arthur followed him to the kitchen.

"Did you ever have romantic relations with Mr. Beilschmidt?" He asked quickly.

Matthew turned his head, he studied Arthur a moment before laughing. His laugh was quiet, and made his shoulders shake slightly. "Romantic relations is a first," He inquired, his face flushing red. "I guess you could call it that."

Arthur was quiet, not sure if Matthew needed comfort or a subject change. Quite frankly, he was unwilling to give either at the moment.

"I wasn't trying to hide it from you," Matthew affirmed. He held up a hand "I swear. It's just-" He sighed, turning back towards the counter.

"You were withholding information." Arthur countered, slightly annoyed.

"Yeah?" Matthew messes with his coffee machine for a second, pausing before speaking again. "I think at this point it's more common sense that tells you that information. Looking back, it wasn't a very smart decision. Nothing I did was a very smart decision." Matthew laughed wryly and glanced at Arthur, his expression a bit sad. He shrugged at him.

Arthur sighed, this subject wasn't even important information, he ran a hand through his hair. "Would you know anybody who might have some kind of grudge against Gilbert?"

Matthew thought for a weighted moment. He looked conflicted. "A lot of people got annoyed at Gilbert. He was one of those guys you either liked or hated. I'm sorry, I'd have to think about that question." Matthew was quiet for a long moment.

Arthur gave Matthew a questioning look, and he returned it with a similar expression. "Do you just want to sit down again?" Matthew said softly, seemingly saddened again.

When, again, Arthur was sitting on the comfortable couch he spoke again. "Have you thought of anyone? It doesn't matter who, just anyone."

Matthew bit his lip. "I honestly don't know. I don't know why anyone would've wanted him _dead_. I didn't know him or any of his friends well enough," He cleared his throat. "Could you wait a second?"

Arthur observed the turmoil within the man, and he nodded sympathetically. Matthew seemed to disappear, and Arthur let him have some time, checking his phone quickly for the possible text from Detective Héderváry, there was nothing. Typical of her.

Arthur rubbed an eye, he was going to have to meet up with her tonight. Just the thought was tiring.

Matthew returned, his eyes just red enough to indicate he had been crying. He was completely composed now, straightening and smiling. "Do you have any more questions?"

Arthur laughed ruefully, "This is a required question, but I must ask where you were the night of the-" He faltered. "The crime."

Matthew laughed, near silent. From what Arthur heard, it was a bit mocking. "I was up in the city with Al as his designated driver. I'm sure I can dig a receipt or something up." He looked at Arthur questioningly.

"I don't think that's necessary." Arthur reassured, feeling as if he was expected to say that.

Matthew nodded stiffly at him. "Y-yeah," He paused. "But seriously-?"

"We'd need more information and a certain type of warrant before taking your things." Arthur said matter of factly. He didn't want to upset anybody, which only further convinced him him he wasn't cut out for murder investigations at all.

Matthew sniffed slightly. To be honest, the man seemed too soft spoken and under the radar to even be considered as someone who knew something, and to be blunt, Arthur was surprised Gilbert, who sounded like an outgoing asshat who was quite the party animal, had even noticed Matthew in the first place.

Arthur was heavily comparing Matthew to his brother, though, which was probably not so fair to him or the case. "You said you had a roommate, who is he?"

"Carlos? I haven't seen him talk to Gilbert more than once." Matthew shrugged helplessly.

"You used to live with Mr. Jones, correct?" Arthur cleared his throat, though it was only a name, he feared Matthew would see right through him.

"Yeah, so did Carlos," Matthew seemed to weigh something in his head for a long moment before speaking again. "We moved here because he got into this huge fight with Alfred over the rent."

"You chose to live with Carlos?" Arthur felt embarrassed for asking, but he was curious.

"No one ever even asked my opinion," Matthew said, a hint of disdain falling into my tone. "I don't think Al cared who I went with, though Carlos would've made an even larger scene if I didn't move with him."

"What do you mean larger scene?" Arthur questioned, his curiosity falling back towards the case rather than the drama in the Jones/Williams apartment.

"Al and Carlos got to the point where they were shouting pretty loudly, we had some complaints from the neighbors. The fighting got a bit physical and someone actually called the police," Matthew laughed ruefully. "We-They probably sounded like bums or druggies."

_Possibly violent roommate? _Arthur didn't want to make things obvious, but he continued the questions about Carlos. "Can you give me Carlos' full name?" He asked casually.

Matthew's eyes widened with realization, "Of course, but I said earlier that I've never seen him talk to Gilbert more than once."

"We just need to look into every possible option, sir." Arthur's tone was stiff.

Matthew nodded. "Yeah, yeah. I'll write his information down for you." Arthur was glad he was compliant, at the very least.

Matthew disappeared into his apartment yet again, reappearing with a Post-it. He looked at Arthur sheepishly. "There's his full name and his phone number."

Arthur nodded in appreciation. He would have Kiku look into Carlos further once he got back to the station. He remembered how he was supposed to compare notes with Detective Héderváry, unfortunately, he had next to none information other than a possibly violent roommate. Maybe he should cancel until he did further research.

If things were the same in murder as they were in theft, Detective Héderváry had probably already solved the case. Arthur sighed, Matthew glanced at the clock. "I'm expecting someone soon, I'll just be a moment." For the third time, Matthew was gone.

Arthur stood in the kitchen for a moment, and things were uneventful for that moment, until there was a sound of a lock turning and someone opened the door.

For a second, Arthur debated looking up, assuming it was Carlos and not really wanting to explain why he was there. He did look up though, and was confused when he did.

"Mattie, I have some food, bro!" The person set a grocery bag of something on the counter, oblivious to Arthur.

Arthur made a noise that resembled the sound of choking. Alfred F. Jones still didn't look up. In fact, he walked right past Arthur, looking around.

Matthew rushed into the room, "I'm sorry, Al," He paused, pushing up his glasses. "I've been busy." He pulled something out of his back pocket, Arthur realized it was a wallet. "How much do you want for the food?"

Alfred waved a hand. "Consider it a gift from your _hero_," He smiled charmingly, Matthew rolled his eyes at his brother. "How were you bus-?" That was the moment Alfred turned towards Arthur.

Everyone was silent for a moment, Alfred's face formed an expression of confusion. Matthew's gaze trailed from one to the other, he looked as if he felt out of place.

Alfred was the one to break the silence. He blinked once and cleared his throat, attempting to make his expression less shocked "Artie?"

* * *

_Footnote: Yay! Alfred's back! I tried to make some stuff actually happen in this chapter, but I'm not really sure how much came of it. *nervous laughter* It did pick up a bit, right? I'd really feel awful if I was boring anyone. I'm sorry for the bit of PruCan that has come of this, I'm actually not a fan of the ship at all. I think it was more of a spur of the moment thing that I thought made sense for this fic. I'm sorry if you don't like the pairing either, and I promise I'm not going to make it a huge thing._

_Thanks for reading/reviewing/following! That's what really motivates me to continue this, and I greatly greatly appreciate it. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and believe it or not I have a plan of where this is going to go that I'm quite happy about!_

_-Caroline_

_P.S. I'll be updating early next week (yay)! Probably on Thursday or Wednesday because I'll be going to Klaipėda for the next week. I assumed my schedule would be more open this summer but it turns out to be just as busy .. I'll try to update as soon as I can so like Sunday/Monday-ish is when the chap will come out two weeks from now? Whatever, for now just be excited for the earlier chapter!_


	5. 5: Grief and Bars

_A/N: Hey guys! The reason this is early is because I'm taking a plane home tonight! *dances* I'll be really busy with family and stuff, so I won't be updating next week. This is a really rough draft, seeing as I started writing it at midnight last night. I'm sorry if it's kind of all over the place, I attempted to use grief as I had seen it first hand, but it turned out kind of weird._

_Enjoy! See you in two weeks!_

* * *

Elizaveta Héderváry did not feel good about the day. She knew that she had gotten what she wanted and had sent Kirkland to Mr. Williams' house quite successfully, but she wasn't sure how promising her side of the bargain was.

The thing was, she absolutely hated involving her personal life in her work, this had gotten to be such a problem that she didn't even want Roderich to come into the office with her.

And today she was going to Mazzetto to meet a friend in his apartment above the venue for questioning. The thought unreasonably scared her.

The fact it was Antonio, too, caused her to have trouble sleeping. Most of the nervousness had been treated by Lovino who had said he 'wasn't taking it very well'. Antonio 'not taking something very well' might as well have meant Antonio was 'a complete shell of his former self', he didn't have a neutral zone emotions wise.

Elizaveta dressed casually in skinny jeans and a long multicolored sweater, as she didn't want any of the two men living above Mazzetto to believe that the questioning was going to jeopardize their friendship. Finally, she pulled her hair into a messy bun as a salute to the weekend even though she was still on the job.

Roderich had gotten cinnamon rolls from the coffee shop on the corner for them. She chastised him for the typical sugary meal he had picked, and had even laughed half-heartedly when he said they should have these cinnamon rolls instead of a cake at their wedding, but overall he sensed she was worried about something and tried not to bother her.

On her way out, Elizaveta kissed him on the cheek and apologized thoroughly for working on a Saturday, to which he replied with something about practicing piano.

"Remember to eat, drink, and use the restroom." She reminded him, not too seriously. Roderich could forget to take care of himself when he got involved with his music, though.

"Yes, love." He said finally, kissing her one more time and shooing her out the door.

Her stomach sank, there was no way out of this now.

Mazzetto wasn't open yet, Lovino was lazy and usually opened the restaurant at least an hour later over the weekends. Elizaveta knocked on the door hesitantly, and Lovino opened after about the third try.

He seemed surprised for a second before narrowing his eyes, almost seeming to size Elizaveta up before letting her in. Lovino was secretly afraid of physical conflict, and though was verbally abusive backed off when there was a chance of pain.

Lovino went to the back without saying a word to Elizaveta, she felt a pang of guilt. Was he angry with her?

There was a small staircase up to the living space above the restaurant that was a quite stereotypical living space underneath all of Antonio's homely Spanish trinkets and the smell of Italian food.

Lovino eyed Elizaveta, who pulled her bag further up her shoulder, feeling exposed.

"I woke him up an hour ago, but I'm sure he's still asleep." Lovino growled, a small bit of his usual friendly annoyance coming into his tone. It calmed Elizaveta down slightly, but she could still sense a bit of awkward anger hanging around.

She swallowed her fears and brought forth her most friendly and charming smile. "Okay, I can wait here." Elizaveta expected a scalding glare, but was met with a broken and disappointed one. She was taken aback for a second, as Lovino didn't like to show his feelings, but his expression hardened again and he left for Antonio.

Elizaveta nearly collapsed on the couch, feeling extremely guilty. She rested her head against one of Antonio's brightly printed blankets. It smelled of dough and a bit of cinnamon.

Lovino came back into the room before Antonio. He was now wearing his usual expression, a scowl with slightly friendlier eyes. "Now that I'm awake, I should probably open up the restaurant."

She nodded at him, and Lovino let out a long breath. "Good luck." He remarked wryly before descending back down the staircase.

Elizaveta tugged at her sweater sleeves, pressing her fingers against the cloth so they reached her palm. She heard footsteps behind her and turned to survey the sight that barely resembled Antonio.

He was clearly still dressed in the clothes he had slept in, plaid boxers and a large white T-shirt. He looked thinner, which surprised Elizaveta seeing as he was usually toned with muscle. His hair was a mess, also not having been touched since he woke up.

The worst thing, though, was his eyes.

Antonio's eyes, which were usually vibrant and happy, were darkened with large circles of exhaustion under them. The normal friendly glow that lit them was gone, replaced with a tired and grieving expression.

"Hey, Liza." He said, his voice attempting to sound bright, but failing.

"You're still in your pajamas." Elizaveta remarked, eyeing him.

Antonio looked down as if he hadn't considered this. "Oh, I guess I am." He sat down next to her on the couch.

"So, how are you? How's Roderich?" He asked, still failing to add the usual excitement to his tone.

"Pretty good," Elizaveta wrung her hands together. "Hey, are you okay?" She looked at Antonio nervously.

"Y-Yes." He said, placing a palm to his forehead. "Just...Tired. There's been a lot going on."

"Yeah, I've heard." She said, her voice softening.

Antonio gave her a confused look and shook his head. "Did Lovi-?"

"Yes," Elizaveta sighed. "I'm sorry."

Antonio nodded stiffly. "Are you on the case?" He said it in a blunt manner, as if he didn't like the way it sounded and wanted to get it out as quickly as possible.

"W-what?" Elizaveta had been expecting confrontation, but not so abruptly.

"You are, aren't you?" He sighed, shaking his head slowly, his unkempt hair fell into his eyes.

"How did you know?" She breathed out. "I was going to tell you, but-"

"I was warned." Antonio said wryly. "I think he screamed at me to a point, I must've been listening subconsciously, as I heard something about it-" He sighed, turning back to Elizaveta and smiling a terrifying smile that reminded her of the criminals she had caught. Antonio lounged back on the couch, his eyes glinting, but not in the usual friendly way. "Ask away."

"What?" Elizaveta managed to choke out.

"You're are here to question me, amiga?" Antonio raised his eyebrows expectantly. "I might as well give you what you came here for."

"I-" She started, but was cut off.

"Who had a grudge against our friend Gilbert? Let's see." He laughed a low laugh that didn't sound as heartened as Elizaveta wished. She swallowed, straightening.

"I think I should-?"

Antonio held up a hand and began counting off his fingers. "There was the man who owned that bar, the woman who had the apartment across from him, and we can't forget his dear _hermano_-"

Elizaveta stood up, her entire stature tense. This wasn't right, he wasn't normal. "Toni, I think it would be better if we-"

"If we what?" He closed his eyes and pulled at the ends of his hair, attempting to find the right words. "A lot of people hated Gilbert, he was stupid about it, and he didn't care. He got himself murdered and now what are _we_ supposed to do-?"

Elizaveta heard footsteps coming up the steps and all of a sudden Lovino was there. He pulled Antonio up by his forearm and glared at Elizaveta. "He's not ready." He said to her, near silent.

Antonio had gained a glassy expression as Lovino dragged him to the corner of the room. Elizaveta sat down again, feeling numb to embarrassment for now, she stared at the floor.

Elizaveta could hear Lovino whispering to Antonio with a surprisingly sympathetic tone. There was still an obvious undertone of anger, but it was a lot less noticeable than what it usually sounded like.

"Should you go back to bed? How's some rest sound?" Elizaveta heard Lovino saying, he was obviously used to this phrase.

"Lovi, you're treating me like a child." Antonio replied. She let out a breath, he was starting to sound more like himself. Much less angry.

"You're fucking acting like one!" Lovino growled, his voice still relatively soft and nearly careful.

"He's dead." Antonio said, his voice raw and broken.

Lovino didn't say anything to this for a while, but after a hesitant moment there was a very small and nearly inaudible "Yes." From him.

Elizaveta heard Antonio exhale, his breathing shaky from being upset. Lovino was saying more things to him, but she had stopped listening.

Antonio seemed to protest something Lovino had said and then he was sitting next to Elizaveta again. She turned back to look at Lovino and studied him, he crossed his arms and tapped his foot at both of them disapprovingly, she raised a hesitant eyebrow.

"It seems I need to babysit you bastards because you can't be alone together without yelling loud enough to scare customers." He snapped, his gaze resting on Antonio for a longer moment than it had her. He started forward, placing a hand on the arm of the couch and leaping over the end of it so he was sitting next to Antonio.

Elizaveta looked at Antonio, who was smiling at Lovino. Even if the smile was rather small, it set a feeling of relief across the entire room.

He was at least going back to normal.

"I'm sorry I've come at such a rough time." Elizaveta said softly. "I'm sorry to come at all."

Antonio turned to her, his mouth not quite smiling but his eyes glowing more like they often did. "You and your job." He muttered, his tone jokingly bright.

"Well, yes," Elizaveta paused, rubbing at her ring subconsciously. "I need to pay for my wedding."

Antonio rubbed the bridge of his nose with a knuckle, nodding. "I'm sorry, Liza. I know I wasn't acting right back there." He paused. "I'm just...really tired. Insanely tired, quite literally." He sniffed, looking apologetic and embarrassed, and she found herself smiling slightly.

"That's okay," She remarked, looking at him in a hopefully friendly way.

"I can help, though. Actually give you what you _did_ come for." Antonio nearly whispered. Lovino had a surprised and slightly panicked expression from behind him. He glanced from Elizaveta to his housemate, slowly narrowing his brownish green eyes.

"Hm?" Elizaveta said, she was curious despite Lovino's obvious indications he was not wanting this to happen.

"I might actually be able to tell you something..." Antonio trailed off, his expression becoming distant and sad.

"What is it?" Elizaveta said, trying not to press too hard. Though this hadn't been a day of her success so far, something could at least come of it.

Lovino looked conflicted. "Toni, are you-?

"You called me Toni." Antonio smiled to himself. "I mean, our jobs are all important, right?"

"You don't have a job." Lovino muttered, his face red.

"Yes, but I can imagine," Antonio shook his head, looking back at Elizaveta. "There was this place Gilbert would go to all the time,"

Lovino's expression lit up with realization and he looked at Antonio with a thoughtful scowl.

"What was it?" Elizaveta asked, pulling out a notebook to write down names of places.

Antonio looked up, his eyes flitting across the ceiling in thought. "A bar." He said, still in thought.

Elizaveta looked at the two, neither said anything. "Does it have a name?"

Antonio swallowed, thinking for another long moment. "I'm sure. It's one of those underground places, it's not official."

_Shit._ Elizaveta nearly said aloud. Her experiences with those 'places' were all terrible ones.

"You have an address?" She asked, clearing her throat when she realized her voice sounded gruff.

Antonio looked at her with a strange expression, as if she was dumb. Lovino was shaking his head.

Antonio jumped, his eyes glowing. "I can take you there, I know it's general area. I'm not a frequent customer or anything, but if you would like..."

"Could you?" Elizaveta asked him. "I have plans but I'm sure they could be postponed."

Lovino looked dumbfounded, his expression was suddenly angry. "Wait a second, really? Seriously?"

Antonio looked at him, confused. "What?"

Lovino groaned. "You can't go, not in your current state, bastard."

Antonio blinked innocently. "Well, you can go with us?"

Elizaveta tuned out their argument and pulled out her phone.

She needed to cancel on Kirkland.

* * *

_Footnote: I was forming the plot for this chapter and realized I hadn't actually centered around one of the main characters yet! Ahaha. The next chapter will go back to Arthur, you just have to wait two weeks for it! *laughes evilly* I have a headcanon that Toni doesn't really take emotions other than happiness really well, obviously. _

_Again, sorry for the quality of this one, it was really rushed!_

_Please review/follow yadayadayada. The usual._

_With great love in appreciation,_

_Caroline (See you in two weeks!)_


	6. 6: A Mildly Annoying Mid-Day Donut

_A/N: So guess who's super late! It looks like I was on vacation longer then planned and then I got sick, so I didn't have like any time to finish this...I finally sat down and did though!_

_We're back to Arthur and everything. I should start updating weekly again, I know this is a week and two days late and I'm super embarrased but what can I do._

_School is starting soon so I might have to start managing my time better for this story *loud sigh*._

_I'm a terrible person, guys. Thanks for sticking with me. Enjoy this late but hopefully good chapter!_

* * *

Arthur blinked in response to Alfred, he looked down and sniffed ruefully. "I- um...Hello Alfred."

Matthew made a small sound in the back of his throat. Alfred coughed into his elbow, but it sounded more like he was clearing his throat.

Alfred's eyes flitted around, first landing on Matthew with a prying look, then on Arthur with a raised eyebrow and nearly hurt expression, finally his eyes fell blankly on a wall somewhere behind him. "So what brings you here?" Alfred asked Arthur amiably, refusing to look at him.

Arthur opened his mouth and thought of all the possible things to say that came to him quickly, unfortunately he was unable to find anything good. With a click of his teeth he closed it.

Matthew seemed to get a bit of realization and looked to Alfred. "So you have met him?"

"Yeah." Alfred said, as if this was common knowledge. He glanced at Arthur again, who was leaning against the counter, frozen.

Matthew shrugged in unnecessary defense of himself. "He wasn't being clear about that."

Alfred looked even more stumped than he had before and he raised an eyebrow at Matthew questioningly. "What do you mean?"

"I assumed he visited you under the same circumstances, right?" Matthew turned to Arthur briefly for confirmation.

"I, uh...It wasn't really-" Arthur found words, but just barely.

"He ordered a meal from you?" Alfred said, a bit of mocking in his voice, only just masking the continued confusion.

"What?" Matthew's voice was so quiet it looked like he was mouthing the word. He narrowed his eyes with suspicion and took a long time glaring at each person in the room. "I don't think..." Matthew trailed off, giving Arthur a look that said _you have some explaining to do._

Arthur sighed, running a hand through his hair. Fuck all of this. Fuck Detective Héderváry. "I've met Alfred on the-" He searched for a word. "Job." Regretfully, Arthur sounded extremely bitter while he said it.

"What about Gilbert?" Matthew's face was full of accusation now.

"What about Gilbert?" Alfred repeated, frowning at Matthew. "He doesn't have anything to do-"

Alfred paused for a long moment, Arthur could nearly see the gears turning in his head. "What does he have to do with this?"

Matthew looked a bit too pleased with himself, smiling slyly at Alfred with narrowed eyes. "Your dear friend Arthur is on Gilbert's case."

"On Gilbert's-?" Alfred's gaze darkened slightly, but more with sadness than with anger. "Oh."

Matthew raised his eyebrows at Arthur, his eyes sparked with curiosity and his mouth betraying a faint smile. He seemed almost pleased with the predicament, as if he wanted Alfred to be hurt. It wasn't that Arthur didn't have a terrible relationship with his brothers, but he expected them to be closer than this.

Alfred leaned forward, flattening his palms on the counter and causing his hair to fall forward. He looked down, clearly trying to take everything in. He looked up, pointing at Arthur with a trembling finger "So you-?"

Arthur bit the inside of his cheek, holding out a hand. "Shall I introduce myself again?"

Alfred nodded with ease and took his hand to shake, his palm was warm, but not in an uncomfortable way.

Arthur cleared his throat and looked away. "Hello, I'm Detective Arthur Kirkland." He paused for a beat. "Pleased to meet you...again." He let go of Alfred's hand.

Matthew seemed to be eating this up, he was watching with cat-like pleasure, his docile-ness practically disappearing more and more each moment.

"So when we met you were...?" Alfred frowned, still attempting to understand.

"On the job? Yes." Arthur felt sheepish and refused to look up. "Um, I was there with my partner, Detective Héderváry."

"Liza?" Alfred asked, he snapped his fingers at the name. "Liza Héderváry, does that sound familiar?" Alfred looked at Matthew, who seemed to snap out of whatever happy daze he was in, his expression becoming reserved again.

"Wasn't she up for prom queen or something in high school?" Matthew asked.

"Maybe, but she couldn't have won while we were there, that flew between the Braginski girls."

Arthur rolled his eyes, he hadn't meant to be harsh, but couldn't help getting annoyed with useless chatter. Luckily, this seemed to shut the brothers up anyways.

Matthew was the one who spoke up first. "I- Do we have people go undercover at our station?"

"In our crime services? Yes." Though Arthur didn't really believe what he was doing at the McDonalds was one hundred percent classified as 'undercover work', he wanted this conversation to be done.

"So...you were undercover?" Alfred said this with tad of awe.

"More or less." Arthur muttered, hoping it wasn't unintelligible. He didn't feel like saying much more.

"Woah." Alfred said, his eyes wide like a child on Christmas. "That's so cool! Do you usually do stuff like that?"

Well, Arthur assumed that was a good way to react, and without meaning to he smiled slightly. "No, that was a first, actually. I was just promoted, actually, along with my partner. We usually work on theft, homicide is definitely...different."

"That's sweet." Alfred said, surprisingly quiet so that Arthur didn't quite know what definition of the word he was using.

Alfred was smiling at him goofily, and Arthur looked away, realizing that Matthew was no longer in the room with them.

"It seems my brother has pulled his little disappearing act again," Alfred said, laughing at himself. "So, what were you here for? Specifically this time."

Arthur looked back at Alfred, whose expression was open and friendly, not including a bit of anything that made him seem offended. Arthur observed this with relief. "Well, I'm not undercover this time," He said matter of factly, pausing for a brief moment. "I'm just doing what I can to finish this job."

"Hm?" Alfred Jones said, cocking his head like a puppy. "You're that dedicated?"

Arthur blinked at the judgement in his tone. "Yes, I consider my job an important part of my life," It was silent for a long moment, and he continued. "Is...that a problem?"

Alfred pulled one of the grocery bags towards him, poking his head above the bag and pulling something out. He unwrapped whatever the thing was, waving it in front of him as if in thought, making it clear that it was a chocolate frosted donut with sprinkles. Arthur suppressed an eye-roll, as it was probably passed noon. He waited for Alfred to say something, but he bit into the donut first.

After he had luckily chewed his mouthful of sugar, he spoke up again "It's just...you've got to have fun, you know? A bunch of movies warn you of overworking yourself-"

"Says the guy who works at McDonalds." Arthur muttered, only slightly bitter.

Alfred chuckled at his slight anger, and Arthur noticed his shoulders bobbed up and down slightly when he laughed. It was almost amusing.

"Well, hey. Maybe I'm wrong," He laughed at this again, taking another bite of his mid-day donut. He chewed, fake consideration lighting his eyes. "Probably not, though."

Arthur did roll his eyes this time, and he decided to change the subject. "So you like movies, then?"

Alfred looked intrigued at this. "Yeah, I love them. The guy who works at the theater is like my best friend! Do you like them?"

"I don't mind them when I have the time." Arthur said. Alfred smirked unnecessarily at this.

Matthew walked back into the room at that moment, typing distractedly into a cell phone. He spared a glance at the two males. "Carlos is coming home, Alfred. You've got to go." Alfred held up a hand and nodded. Still staring at his phone, he continued. "Arthur..."

"I'm done here, I'll be heading out soon. Thank you, Matthew." He said.

"Uh- any time. Hopefully under better circumstances?" Matthew still didn't look up from his phone, he nodded and waved Alfred out. Arthur was already at the door by the time Alfred started to go.

Arthur hurried down the all, looking at his shoes and feeling a rising sense of relief. Unfortunately, he had clearly thought (or felt) too soon. A surprisingly few amount of footsteps was heard before Alfred was beside him, clearly his stride was very large, and he slowed down to match Arthur's pace.

Arthur sighed inwardly, glaring at Alfred with an unintentionally rude and burning gaze. Alfred only smiled back, his blue eyes also bright, but with a friendly intensity.

They walked past the different apartments in silence that wasn't awkward, but seemingly long. Once they were almost out of the building, Alfred began to whistle a quiet and happy tune, Arthur looked at him with disdain only to find Alfred was looking out of the corner of his eye at him. It beckoned a smile out of Arthur and he looked away.

"So," Alfred started. "You have a car?"

"You don't?" Was Arthur's first reply, and though it was a weak thing to say, it was the thing he thought of instantly.

"Nah," Alfred smiled. "I did, but it broke down and I didn't need to spend the money on a new one. Even when living close to the city it's easy to catch a bus wherever."

"I guess that makes sense if you're looking for saving money." Arthur said, willing the conversation to be over once again, it wasn't that he wasn't wanting to talk to Alfred, though he kept telling himself that. To be honest, he feared messing something up terribly more than dislike towards Alfred.

"Eh, New York is a place where most people have to make sacrifices." Alfred coughed, seemingly more humble about his situation than before. Arthur bit the inside of his cheek, not really sure how to reply to that. They reached the outside of the building right as Alfred spoke again.

"Wait, you don't have a police car. Right?" Alfred seemed excited about this, and Arthur smiled, trying not to laugh. This didn't work, though, and he snorted at Alfred's comment.

"Damn," Alfred said, laughing also. "Guess that's a no, then." He smiled to himself, looking at Arthur, who was still trying to pull himself together. He wiped his mouth in an attempt to rid his face of the smile that lingered.

"You know, if you did have a police car then i don't think I'd give you a choice on whether or not you gave me a ride," Alfred smile turned mischievous, and he clutched his hands in front of him as if about to plead.

Arthur coughed, narrowing his eyes and glaring at Alfred. "E-Excuse me?"

Alfred expertly raised an eyebrow, his expression not faltering. "I'm asking you for a ride, Detective Kirkland." He slowed his words, putting quite the emphasis on Arthur's name, his tone was almost flirtatious. This made Arthur nervous to a point where he almost wanted Alfred to go back to the childish nickname of 'Artie'.

Arthur flushed and looked towards his car. "Really?"

Alfred seemed to turn sheepish, as if he didn't usually have to explain his requests further, he scratched his neck, following Arthur's eyes and soon also eyeing the old Ford. "I...yeah?"

"Well you seemed to take pride in taking the bus." Arthur said, surprised at the bitterness in his response.

"Yeah, it's fine. I was just wondering..." The moment became awkward again and Arthur felt a pang of guilt.

"Do you just need a ride home?"

Alfred seemed to lighten, smiling widely. "Well, that depends on where you're heading."

Arthur raised his eyebrows at the rather forward statement. Alfred seemed to realize his wrong choice of words and chuckled.

"I mean- like...you're welcome to stop wherever you want to if it's on the way," Alfred paused to cough, ridding away apparent embarrassment. "I'm not in any rush."

Arthur checked his watch at the word 'rush'. It was already two o-clock, he hadn't intended to stay at Matthew's so long, and he was supposed to meet Detective Héderváry at the station in a couple hours.

He didn't have anything else to do, though, which was bittersweet considering the circumstances. Arthur sighed, not only at the lack of information he had gathered, but the stress of taking one Alfred F. Jones home was beginning to loom over him.

He had missed lunch too. Oh how fast calm days could end up chaotic.

Arthur shook his head, pulling himself out of his thoughts and grabbing his keys from his pocket. "Let's go, then."

* * *

_All Over the Place Footnote (I'm really tired sorry not sorry): _

_Ah, I love writing for Arthur. The next chapter will be the shenanigans of him and Alfred and I'm actually quite excited. After that we should go back to our favorite Hungarian though, just so you see what goes on with her side of the case and the bar and shit._

_So I really enjoy the idea that Matthew is happy when the golden boy of his brother has something screw up, thus that characteristic in this chapter. Ha._

_Hopefully I and my family are more consistant in the future. Again, I'm really sorry with how late this is._

_Tell me you're thoughts and follow/favorite if you'd like. I hope you know by now how much I appreciate it!_

_With great love,_

_Caroline_


	7. 7: Up or Downhill

_A/N: Hey guys! I don't have much to say this time so I'm probably just going to have this author's note at the top. Who knew I'd already be at the seventh chapter, wow! My school is starting this next week and I will try my hardest to get an update in, but I'm not sure about it yet. This chapter is a bit of a rush and I know not much happens, but the next chapters should be developing the plot far more. This chapter is a teensy bit shorter then usual, since I rushed severely._

_Everyone is being so kind with their reviews/follows and I still greatly appreciate it!_

* * *

Alfred was a leg bouncer. He had the spastic bouncing of the limb worrying Arthur instantly. Arthur thought about if it was a nervous tic, or just something annoying that came with the American.

It was almost a shame, and although it wasn't very gracious Arthur wanted to remark on it. He withheld this urge, though, and instead smiled tightly, turning to Alfred. "You can pick a disc out of that compartment." He pointed to where he kept his CDs, music would inevitably calm him and hopefully Alfred too.

Alfred smiled widely at Arthur, regarding him as if he wanted for him to say something. "What?" Arthur asked, glancing away from the road for a second, only to give Alfred a bewildered look.

Alfred spread his hands over Arthur's music collection. "Well I know someone like you trusts me when they give me access to their music collection." He smirked at Alfred from the passenger seat.

"Someone like me? I don't think you've correctly psychoanalyzed me just yet." Arthur snapped, shifting uncomfortably.

Alfred shrugged, picking up a CD before setting it back down again. It was one of his Rolling Stones albums. "So you're into the British Invasion stuff?"

"It wasn't the British Invasion for my country," He remarked, pausing. "And I'm 'into' whatever I like the sound of, thank you very much."

"Shh, I'm looking for _Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band_," Alfred filed through a few more albums than held it up. "Ah, found it," He slipped back into it's place. "See? You're stereotypical." He seemed proud of his analysis.

"I like how you've already labeled me stereotypical after picking up two CDs." Arthur scoffed.

Alfred flipped through more albums, pulling one of the newer ones out. "Oh, hey! I like the _Arctic Monkeys!_" He paused, looking at Arthur. "Do I just slip it into the CD thing?"

"Press the CD setting first." Arthur pointed to the button and continued looking at the road.

The blast of music that blasted through the speakers in Arthur's car indicated Alfred had figured the contraption out just fine.

Alfred hummed to the song, seemingly not knowing the lyrics. "So, do you have a problem with American bands, or-?" He started, waving his hand around.

"Are you saying I'm musically prejudice? No," Arthur snapped.

"Well, I mean, it'd be kind of nice to see some _Green Day_ or something in here."

"_Green Day_," Arthur repeated, shaking his head. "I definitely don't have _Green Day."_

"Eh, didn't think you would." Alfred went back to humming to the first track on one of Arthur's _Arctic Monkeys _albums. The familiar beat of 'Do I Wanna Know?' proved it to be _AM, _which was of course the one Alfred had recognized out of his albums.

Alfred drummed his fingers on the dashboard as he resumed humming. "So, where are we going?"

"I thought you were going home." Arthur quipped, suspicion creeping into his tone.

"Let me rephrase that, where are _you_ going?" Alfred didn't miss a beat.

"After I drop you off?" He decided to be honest. "Probably to the station to work and wait for Detective-" He stopped himself, knowing how casual a person Alfred was. "-er...Liza."

"Well, that's boring. When are you meeting Miss Liza?" Alfred asked as a new song started, he seemed to know this one too.

"Five, I'm sure," They didn't usually set specific times, as Arthur holed himself up in his office most of the time.

"You have a couple hours!" Alfred exclaimed.

"I know, there's too much work to be done." Arthur said.

"You're missing the point, there's a ton of time," Alfred raised an eyebrow, which he couldn't really do, when one eyebrow was raised, the other followed. "Are you serious?"

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Whatever," Alfred replied, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms. "You do know the station is on the way to my house, right?"

"You'd think I'd know the town well enough." Arthur affirmed the fact that he did know where the scene of his major case was.

"Well, I'd like to see the station, and I wouldn't want you to go out of your way-"

"I'd be going out of my way anyways." Arthur addressed.

"Yeah, but you don't have to right now," Alfred's gaze was pleading, and Arthur found himself in the same position he had been in before entering the car.

Fuck.

He decided to use the lamest, but first excuse that came to mind. "I don't think you're allowed in there,"

Alfred got as close as he could to an eye-roll, which he was fortunately not very good at. Arthur wondered if Alfred could get annoyed enough to successfully roll his eyes. For some reason, he doubted it. "It's not like I'd be looking into all of your secret files, and you're like super Detective boss guy, I don't think they care."

"First off, I'm far from a boss," He said, aggravated. "Second off, you can't touch _anything._"

"Deal." Alfred said, his smile widening.

They had gotten through two more _Arctic Monkeys_ songs before Arthur pulled up to the station. Alfred had sat in cooperative and excited silence until they arrived there. He looked up at the station, his expression nearly goofy. "You know, I've never actually been inside here."

"That's probably a good thing," Arthur added, turning the wheel and parking simply in an 'employees only' parking spot.

"Well I'm glad I wasn't arrested or anything, don't get me wrong," Alfred let out a small bit of laughter. "It's just that I have friends here I could've visited- or something."

Arthur remembered Kiku saying something about being friends with Alfred in highschool, but he had a feeling that Kiku wasn't the only friend he had in the office. The town wasn't that big. "Well, I can tell you honestly that the station is not keen on 'friendly visitors'," Arthur paused. "You have to be cool, I don't think people care too much because I don't usually bring friends, but-"

"Yeah, okay. I'm always cool," Alfred said humorously and matter-of-factly, opening Arthur's car door with surprising ease, that door could get stuck and fool even Arthur sometimes.

Alfred had a slight spring in his step as he approached the door, he pulled it open, holding it for Arthur, who rolled his eyes. This was _his _workplace, and Alfred had never even been here before.

Ever the extrovert, Alfred seemed to recognize people instantly. These people greeted Alfred graciously, all of them looking behind him to see Arthur. A few eyebrows were raised, and quite a few questioning looks received. Some people even laughed aloud, to Arthur's annoyance.

He scanned the room, relaxing slightly when he realized that Detective Héderváry wasn't here. He knew he'd never hear the end of this if she was.

Alfred continuously said hello to the people he knew, and Arthur pulled him towards his office, which was small but offered reservation anyways.

"You have a nice workplace," Alfred remarked when they entered the room. Arthur couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not. "It's...cozy."

"Really?" Arthur said, smirking.

"Well, I don't have an office, so it's cool." Alfred seemed genuine with this, and Arthur looked away. He didn't want to hear many more false compliments, but it seemed Alfred was full of them.

Arthur sat at his desk, pulling out a paper and remembering the small bit of info he had gotten from Matthew. "So, now that I can ask you simply, why isn't you don't have the best relationship with your brother's roommate?"

Alfred looked up from a trinket he had found on Arthur's desk. His expression was a bit darker, but he looked open to the subject.

Alfred looked back at whatever he was playing with in his hands, not caring any more. "Our personalities clashed, I guess. Him and Matthew were always closer, and I didn't have a lot of patience for him living with us, as Matthew does." Arthur found it hard to believe that Alfred couldn't find a way to make their personalities 'un-clash' as that seemed a hobby of his, but he stayed quiet about it.

"Could I- uh...have his full name?" Arthur felt stupid for not having collected it when he could've, but it would still work to do it now.

Alfred nodded, leaning over Arthur's desk further and grabbing the paper from him, scrawling down Carlos' name. His handwriting was all too familiar, and he was leaning rather close, Arthur looked away, his face flushing. He didn't want to talk or think about their first encounter.

"There you go," Alfred said, smiling almost mischievously. Arthur exhaled, he hadn't realized he was holding his breath. Alfred set the pen down on the table with a small clang. If Arthur wasn't trying to forget about why he'd first seen Alfred's handwriting, he would've said that Alfred was thinking about it too.

"So, have you gotten any leads just yet?" Alfred asked, twirling the pen on the desk. "You seem dedicated to this case."

"Even if I had that information for sure, it'd be very foolish to tell you. Wouldn't it?" Alfred frowned in thought and a tad bit of suspicion.

"Yeah," Alfred said, sounding slightly embarrassed. "I guess so."

The silence that followed was soon broken by someone opening the door.

"I was alerted about you being back, Arthur," Kiku voiced, looking down at a paper into his hands. "I think Elizaveta might've found-" His eyes snapped up, and he slowly quieted. "Alfred." He greeted, unsurprised but slightly flustered.

"Hey, Honda!" Alfred said, excited. He stood up and fist bumped the man, and Arthur withheld a laugh when Kiku reciprocated the greeting, which was something he found very out of character for the small man. Kiku didn't seemed fazed in the slightest, and he smirked as his eyes fell on Arthur, who was still sitting at his desk.

"How are you, Alfred? It has been a long time." Kiku was ever so formal with him, even though there was an ice between them that seemed to be broken, Kiku was as close if not closer with Alfred than Detective Héderváry. It made him slightly disappointed in his own friendship with the man, but he pushed that thought away with disdain.

"I'm great, actually," Alfred grinned amiably, looking at Arthur with his smile staying planted on his face. For a second Arthur felt a little bit starstruck, and he almost smiled back. Luckily, Alfred looked away. "It has been a while though, man."

Kiku nodded at this, frowning the slightest in thought, the expression was gone after a second, though, and Kiku turned fully to Arthur. "How was your morning? You can send me anything you'd like for me to...look over." Kiku gave him a small smile, the most emotion Arthur thought he had ever seen out of him.

"There isn't much, a possible lead, but not a very promising one," Arthur frowned. Though it was very early in the case, he felt kind of lost when it came to it. He hoped Detective Héderváry had some more possible leads to move the case along. "Have you heard from Héderváry, Kiku?" He asked instinctively.

"Yes. Do you know everything about-?" The look on Arthur's face must've indicated he didn't because Kiku shook his head, sighing. For some reason, this sounded un-annoyed, even though Arthur had a feeling Kiku was a least slightly aggravated. "Miss Liza can't meet you tonight, she's working on the case."

Arthur twitched, feeling suddenly abandoned. "She would've been working on the case with me."

Kiku glanced at Alfred who seemed uninterested in this conversation, he lowered his voice very slightly despite himself. "She's investigating a lead."

"Oh," Arthur mouthed, clearing his throat. "What am I supposed to do, then?"

Kiku chuckled dryly at this. "Go out, this is supposed to be an off day for you anyways."

Alfred's head snapped up. "Wait, Art. You're free tonight?"

Arthur glared at Kiku for inadvertently bringing this on. "Yeah, I guess I am now," He didn't break Kiku's stare until there was a clunk from Alfred standing up suddenly, nearly knocking his desk over.

"We should hang out, then." He said this as if it was the best idea in the world.

"We have been hanging out." Arthur muttered.

"No like really hang out. As like friends or something, we could go to a movie?" Alfred shrugged, smiling hopefully. "It could be fun."

"Friends," Arthur smiled weakly. He thought to himself about how much worse his day had slowly gotten, though he felt differently, he suppressed this and repeated that thought.

"I don't think you have anything else to do, Kirkland," Kiku butted in. "And if you're uncomfortable with just Alfred, I could go with you two." He shrugged.

Arthur wanted to punch something, a small bit of him sparked with excitement, but the rest was pissed.

He swallowed, looking from Alfred to Kiku.

There was absolutely no fun in this. He had to remind himself of that.


	8. 8: It's Vodka, Not Bourbon

_A/N: Guess who's back, back again. Okay so I'm really really really sorry I kind of disappeared for like four weeks, I'm kind of mad at myself to be honest. I was just not expecting the workload in going back to school. Ugh. I can't really say I'm happy with this chapter, because I'm not. And I kind of want to go back to the love interests instead of the murder case because it's making me sad. I do love Lovino and Antonio though so whoop whoop, but soon the case is going to be going quite slow and there's going to be much more drama just in normal life for Art and Liza. You know, like weddings and interventions and shit. I'm actually quite excited for that._

_Bleh bleh bleh. Again I'm sorry this is so late, school is stressful and dumb and you know. Anyways, thanks for sticking with me, and I hope you enjoy this chapter much more than I do._

* * *

Elizaveta ate lunch in Lovino and Antonio's apartment. She hadn't intended to, but Lovino had slammed a family sized bowl of carbonara onto the kitchen table, and she hadn't really been given another choice on such short notice.

Antonio sat down across from her, she was careful with what she said, as she felt he was still somewhat fragile. His smile was especially reassuring, and she didn't have to worry too much when Lovino was around, he kept him under control.

Lovino went back and forth from the apartment to the restaurant downstairs, Antonio would smile to himself when you could catch a bit of Lovino cursing out his employees, and the Italian would return with a scowl, muttering about the bastards he had to put up with.

Elizaveta just talked with Antonio about this and that, as they hadn't really been in contact for a while and needed to catch up, she was surprised to find that it was rather late in the afternoon by the time she was going to leave.

"You might as well wait here," Antonio offered. "I don't mind the wedding talk, really."

Elizaveta bit her lip, eyeing the clock. She nodded, defeated. "Alright," Antonio grinned at this, relieved.

"So, how is Lovino?" She asked, folding her hands and eyeing Antonio with curiousity.

"Fairly normal, as you've seen," Antonio smiled wistfully. "He's been managing me so much I don't really think he's let himself feel about..."

Elizaveta was quiet, she didn't want to feel awkward about mentioning Gilbert, as he was her main case right now, but she couldn't seem to find words that would be seen as particularly appropriate. She sighed inwardly.

Antonio noticed the shift in the mood and sniffed "He's been very...caring. He doesn't say so, but I know it." He pulled at one of his curls. "I think he might've even called Feli, I've been so out of it there's no way to be sure, but I feel like-" Antonio trailed off again, narrowing his eyes in thought.

Elizaveta nearly jumped at the mention of Feli. Feliciano Vargas had always been very close with both her and Roderich, his name sounded sadly foreign now.

Lovino chose the right time to return, and the silence was filled by a string of Italian curses that followed a stubbed toe. "I'm closing early, it's Sunday." Lovino told Antonio and Elizaveta as he arrived, looking away. Earlier in the day he had demanded to at least drive Antonio and Elizaveta to this 'bar', and Elizaveta knew that was the real reason he must've closed early.

Antonio was eyeing him with a bit of a faraway expression and the slightest smile, it brightened Elizaveta to watch. Lovino looked to both of them, "Are you guys ready?"

Antonio looked at his comfort clothes that he hadn't changed out of, then eyed Elizaveta's sweater. "No, we're going out, we can't dress like this!" Antonio said, sounding rather sure of himself.

"You guys will look like fucking idiots either way, let's just go." Lovino snapped.

"Actually, I'd like to tell Roderich that I won't be home until later." Elizaveta said, regretting having decided to stay so long.

Lovino rolled his eyes. "Fine, you head home and dress in something 'better for the occasion' while we do the same," He paused, looking at his watch in exasperation. "We'll give you until nine, I'll pick you up." That gave her about an hour.

"That works," Elizaveta told Lovino, who nodded with a scowl.

Roderich was baking when she arrived home, it brought a smile to her face.

"You were out for a while," He remarked, frowning in thought. "You must've been busy."

He must've noticed Elizaveta's apologetic expression, as he raised his eyebrows. "You're not done? It's Sunday."

"I'm sorry," She said. "I have a serious lead and I know that I should've rescheduled but I was going to be at the office late with Kirkland anyways-"

Her fiance shook his head, smirking. "They better be paying you well." Roderich said, leaning against the counter. Elizaveta smiled in relief.

"Thanks," She said. "I came back to change."

"Where're you heading?" He asked, involving himself in the cooking.

"A bar," Elizaveta said, rolling her eyes. "A nonofficial one."

"Ah," Roderich said in understanding. "Be safe."

"Yeah," She said, nodding at him and heading to the bedroom.

Pulling her hair up in a tight and high ponytail and putting on glittery gold eyeshadow she hadn't remembered she had, Elizaveta dressed in a olive one-sleeved cocktail dress that was rather fancy, but fit as a party dress too. As she went back into the main room, Roderich smiled at it.

"Is that a bit fancy?" He asked jokingly.

"No," Elizaveta said, slightly defensive.

"Well, it brings out your eyes," He remarked, grinning.

She posed in it, laughing. Roderich laughed too, his expression amused.

"Don't talk to any strange men," He said matter of factly, going back to the food.

"Sure, _mom_," Elizaveta rolled her eyes, kissing him on the cheek. "Sorry Rod, it's kind of my job. Don't wait for me, I'll be back pretty late."

"Hm," Roderich said, sounding slightly disappointed.

"Again, I'm sorry," She said, heading towards the door. "Love you!"

Roderich looked up at her, he smiled hesitantly. "Love you too."

Lovino had arrived in his fairly nice Maserati. Both he and Antonio were dressed for going out, and she was relieved to find she had made the right choice of clothes. Lovino raised his eyebrows at her attire anyways, smirking. "Well, you went all out."

"Nah," Elizaveta remarked, shaking her head.

"You look nice," Antonio said, smiling. She returned the grin happily, sending a pointed glare to Lovino, who rolled his eyes.

The car ride wasn't very long, fifteen minutes at the most, she was glad they weren't traveling into the city, as she'd never had a good experience there on the job. It was near to a used bookstore that Roderich was particularly fond of. Lovino parked his car in a more secluded area, for it's safety. They exited and walked about a block before going down a stairway to an alley-like place.

It was bustling at this bar, extremely busy and near overwhelming. Elizaveta had tried to have Kiku do information about it and everything, but he hadn't come up with anything, or if he had, he hadn't said so. Elizaveta felt a sudden pang of nervousness that she pushed away soon after, deciding that even if she didn't come up with anything, it wouldn't be a big deal in the big scheme of things, as it was still early in the case.

A few people seemed to recognize Antonio, clapping him on the back in recognition. Lovino scowled at everything and everyone, his expression suddenly regretful.

Elizaveta leaned towards Antonio "Um, who knew Gilbert?" She asked him, he turned to her mid-smile.

"Huh?" He asked her, tapping his ear. "I didn't quite catch that."

"Who knew Gilbert?" Elizaveta asked him a bit louder. "I would like to find them,"

"Ah," Antonio nodded, frowning slightly. He looked around, narrowing his eyes. "Start off with that woman over there, she's a common customer, and you know Gilbert and his flirting."

Elizaveta turned to see a young woman tapping away at an iPhone. She had long platinum blonde hair that was pulled back into a ponytail with a black ribbon and was sporting a navy headband. Any of the little worries she still possessed about overdressing were gone as she looked over the woman's outfit. She wore a black and white striped pencil skirt and a silk navy blue blouse with a large bow at the neckline that was tucked into it.

"_She's _a regular?" Elizaveta said, surprised.

"Yeah," Antonio said casually, he scanned the girl. "Her family hangs around here almost as much as she does, I think there attendance is correlated, at the least."

"Oh, well, I'll see you when I'm done," Elizaveta announced distantly, she headed towards the woman who was surrounded by either men trying to buy her a drink, or bodyguards, the first one seemed a tad more likely, but anything could happen. Meanwhile, Lovino grabbed Antonio's wrist and dragged him towards the bar.

Elizaveta stumbled purposely as she got closer to the woman, grabbing her shoulder for balance and giggling. "Sorry," She slurred, smiling at the woman and stepping back. The woman snapped her head up from her phone, violet eyes glaring. The woman rolled her eyes and became busy with her phone again. Elizaveta frowned temporarily, going back to her intoxicated routine in less than a second. "I'm Liza," She laughed into her hand then held it out. "Again, I'm sorry,"

The woman raised an eyebrow, eyeing her in pity. "Natalia," She snarled, unamused. She had an accent Elizaveta couldn't quite place.

Elizaveta giggled again. "What a mouthful! Can I call you Nat?" She smiled and cocked her head towards the bar. "You want a drink?"

Natalia stared at her, standing stiffly. She seemed taken aback by the offer, but didn't move.

"Maybe not," Elizaveta grinned at her. "I just love this place. Don't you love this place?"

Natalia seemed to completely lose interest and went back to typing something into her phone. "My family is quite familiar with it," She said coolly and easily.

"Awesome!" Elizaveta chatted on happily. "You wouldn't happen to know Gilbert Beilschmidt, would you?" Natalia's head snapped up at the name, and Elizaveta smiled to herself before realizing Natalia's expression was very much suspicious. "H-he's my ex, and I just know he went here a lot."

Natalia's eyes almost softened. Almost. "I knew him," She said. "Yes, he was quite obnoxious. It was hard not to know him."

Elizaveta laughed, disappointed at how ungenuine it sounded. "Yep, that's Gil for you,"

She was basically getting the same fucking sentence from everyone. Ugh.

"Uh- How did you know him?" She asked Natalia, trying to sound sadder.

Natalia looked taken aback, she swallowed. "My brother, my brother brought him for drinks and such," She narrowed her eyes at Elizaveta. "How did you say you knew Gilbert?"

Elizaveta raised an eyebrow. "We dated for a while?" She said simply. "Why?"

Natalia twirled a lock of hair around her finger, frowning at Elizaveta in thought, her eyes flashed suspiciously. "I've not ever seen you with him," She said, though it sounded more like she was talking to herself.

That was the moment Antonio appeared, smiling brightly. Lovino was surprisingly not with him. "Hola," He greeted, wrapping an arm around Elizaveta in a friendly hug.

Natalia eyes widened in recognition. "Spaniard," She said, frowning, her expression was less suspicious, but suddenly furious.

"Natalia, sí?" He held out a hand, smiling at her. Natalia eyed it, her eyes still wide in surprise, Antonio dropped his hand, his expression unfaltering. Elizaveta looked from Natalia to Antonio, something in Antonio's gaze was almost...cold? Elizaveta remembered that Natalia thought she was in a tipsy condition and leaned against Antonio as if she couldn't keep herself up.

"She knows Gil," Elizaveta smiled dreamily, and Antonio looked confused for a second.

"O-oh! Yeah?" He said, his eyes brightening with recognition. "I actually know that," He continued, sending a pointed smiled to Natalia. She rolled her eyes, seeming skeptical.

"This is actually my first time here," Elizaveta said, inhaling and laughing in exasperation. "Gilbert never wanted to take me, I wonder why?" She laughed again. "Their bourbon is lovely,"

Antonio stiffened slightly, Natalia raised her eyebrows. "Our specialty is vodka," She said, sounding like she'd discovered something interesting.

"Somebody doesn't know their spirits," Antonio said smoothly, laughing amiably and trying to lift Elizaveta off him, she stood straighter, giggling at Natalia.

"Our specialty?" Elizaveta questioned, placing her hand on a table to 'steady' herself.

Antonio spoke slowly. "Natalia is here a lot because her family owns this..." He looked around. "Collection,"

Elizaveta coughed, glaring at Antonio from the corner of her eye, he was smiling again. She wondered why he hadn't told her.

Natalia was grimacing, Elizaveta forgotten. She was looking at Antonio with an expression of hatred and anger. Her gaze was on him for a long time, until it flicked behind him, her expression darkening more so than it had already, she looked at Elizaveta and Antonio as if to shoo them, Antonio turned around at this, he looked suddenly panicked.

Without a second to explain, Antonio grabbed Elizaveta by the shoulder and pulled her away harshly, he rushed away from Natalia, and Elizaveta tried to stop him, but he kept going.

"What the hell are you doing?" She snapped, trying to push him backwards.

Antonio wasn't smiling, in fact, he looked more terrified than she'd ever seen him.

"I- I need to find Lovino," He said, sounding desperate.

Elizaveta glanced back one more time, she was just near enough to hear Natalia speak to the figure who Antonio had bolted away from.

"Hello, brother,"

* * *

_Ahhhhhh, this chapter was really sucky for me. Not one of my best, bluh. Anyways, this is (in my opinion) pretty important for this fic, I'm going to start updating every other week. I know I'm a terrible person for making everyone wait longer for updates but I'm sure I'll be far more consistant with updates every other week and will avoid getting bored with this fic. Who knows, if I get really into it I'll update as I finish chapters, yes?_

_Again, super sorry for my overall suckyness and stuff, but I hope you understand!_

_Please review/favorite/follow, I greatly appreciate it!_

**_P.S. (Bold on purpose, as this doesn't affect this fic too much for now, it's just an update about me ahaha) This isn't going to happen for a long time, but I've been thinking of this new fic idea that's kind of complex but involves a whole crap ton of characters and drama, I don't really want to say anything right now but I'm developing a whole plot for it and am actually really excited. Anyways, I usually do NaNoWriMo in November, but since I'm in the middle of a serious novel right now I don't want to really start a new one this year. So I was thinking maybe I'd start this new fic in November and it can kind of be my NaNoWriMo? The thing is, that means that JYAMC will be on hiatus during that month, though I was thinking if I were to do that I would have a super long Halloween update to satisfy your needs and such. This fic will be a fic that's updated really quick and everything, as I'll be writing a chapter (on average) every couple days or so? That means like three updates a week, but again, there'd also be no JYAMC...Nothing is set in stone yet but if you could maybe tell me what you think it'd be greatly appreciated! I'll probably start this fic anyways, I just wanted to know what people thought about me doing it for NaNoWriMo!_**


	9. 9: Shooting in the Dark

_Hey I'm posting a little late because I continue to be an awful slacker and bleh. I'm excited to get back to Arthur, clearly, as my writing for Liza is getting a little...weak. A break from the lovely girl is needed. It's not her fault, it's mine. Eh I think most people will appreciate my escaping her for now also haha._

* * *

Antonio had grabbed Lovino and pulled the protesting Italian along, seeing how upset Antonio was caused him to quiet, his face twisting in concern. Once they were back by the car Lovino clearly felt safer, as his face lost all concern and was soon stormy.

To say the absolute least, Lovino was furious. It was noticeably terrifying, as he didn't yell like when he was frustrated, but nearly shook in fury. Some of the shaking was probably fear, as Lovino was much more of a coward then he let on, but his steely glare was definitely more angry.

Antonio sat next to Elizaveta in the back of Lovino's car, visibly relaxing. Lovino slammed the car door, and they sat in silence for a long moment. Lovino sighed, turning around in the seat to frown at Antonio. "What the fuck was that?" He snapped. "Seriously, what in the fuck-"

Antonio looked down guiltily. "It was the Braginski-" He looked up, trying to find the words.

"You got freaked out over-?" Lovino didn't seemed to understand, he looked at Antonio through narrowed eyes. "What was going on?"

Elizaveta eyed Antonio quizzically. "Do they-?"

"They aren't a threat," Antonio said stiffly, his tone icy. Lovino opened his mouth to protest, but before he could Antonio continued. "Not to Gilbert, at least."

"What do you mean?" Elizaveta said softly, though her thoughts were whirling around in her head, panicking.

Antonio looked taken aback, distant. "They would've been my first suspects a few months ago, but not now."

Elizaveta wracked her brain. Braginski, she had definitely heard the name before. Highschool, possibly? "Ivan, right?"

Antonio nodded, looking down at his hands. Elizaveta sat back. "So, what do I need to know about them?" Her tone was no nonsense, Antonio wasn't weaseling around this one.

"Gilbert got foolishly involved with the family. It had Francis and I concerned to a point where we..." Antonio paused. "Confronted them about it. We struck a deal of sorts,"

"Deal?" Elizaveta said, her voice a bit weak. Antonio sounded serious, but she couldn't imagine him doing something so shady. The man was so happy and kind, and she was learning the worst things about him all at once. It was surprising to see so much of her friend she didn't know, especially since Antonio seemed to not be one to hide his personality.

Antonio looked up, his green eyes dark and thoughtful. "Liza, I want you to know that I am absolutely positive that the Braginskis had nothing to do with Gilbert's...death."

"Okay," She said, still questioning. "I still need to know-"

"As a friend I don't want you to get into this, as it's more dangerous for you in the long run and you will not be able to find anything,"

"Antonio, my job is an entitlement, I don't think you quite understand how much we can control." Her tone was cool.

Antonio looked at her, his eyebrows knit together, he looked apologetic, and his normal friendly tone was back, with a tad of concern laced in it. "I am serious, amiga. Please,"

Elizaveta sat back in the seat, slightly aggravated. "Either way, you need to explain this further. Now."

Lovino's eyes were still narrowed, they flicked between the two of them. He glared at Antonio as if trying to see through him.

Antonio felt Lovino's eyes on him and avoided them, looking around before just landing on Elizaveta.

"He went to that bar a lot..." Antonio sighed, tilting his head towards the way of the bar, he closed his eyes and leaned his head against the seat. "I'm not sure how he got caught up with them, and I'm sure he didn't want to be."

Lovino blinked, turning around and also falling back into his seat in exasperation.

"Francis, another friend of mine,as you have probably guessed- He's French, and you know how they are with...negotiating." Antonio continued. "The deal was simple, but it took a ton of time to actually agree on. If they left Gilbert alone for good, we would never return to that bar. If we did-" Antonio trailed off, opening his eyes. "Well, they threatened our safety. Did I think they were bluffing?" Antonio let out a near amused sigh.

Elizaveta looked at him, beckoning him to continue.

"Absolutely not." He said finally, smiling regretfully and morosely. "You can see how much it helped,"

The car was silent again. Lovino switched the car on before turning around in his seat, so that he was facing Antonio again. "Are you fucking serious?" He said, struggling to keep his voice level.

Antonio looked confused. "Discúlpeme?" He asked him. Elizaveta was rather poor at Spanish, but understood the gist of what he was saying. Antonio opened his mouth to say something else, but he was interrupted rather harshly.

"Basta! You must be kidding! You did not just bring us to a place where we could've been at the hands of those fucking psycho Russians?!"

Elizaveta knew what Lovino had said really translated to: _Did you seriously just bring us to a place where you could've gotten possibly hurt, with US?!_

Antonio could only smile weakly in response this, but he winced when Lovino's demeanor changed and he quieted, eyeing Antonio as if trying to dissect him. It was a look she was familiar with from working so often with Kirkland.

"This is my fault," Lovino muttered, turning to face the windshield. "I should've known."

"Lovi, no-" Antonio voice cracked and he cleared his throat. "It's not your fault at all."

Elizaveta was quiet, she looked out the window of the car. The street was lit plenty by lights, but it was so lonely at night, while most of the town was asleep. One thing she liked about the city is that it was always awake. The city that never sleeps.

Antonio was speaking quiet Spanish now, and since she wasn't facing him she wasn't able to tell if it was being directed to Lovino or if he was just muttering to himself. Amidst all this, the car started with a rumble, not moving.

Elizaveta turned her head again, Antonio glanced at her, trying to muster a smile. He was clearly distraught, but she deemed him okay overall.

Lovino began to drive, and before long Elizaveta was trying to think of something to say. The silence was deafening.

"I'm sorry, both of you. I know this is all overwhelming," Elizaveta mumbled, she wasn't usually one to have trouble with making useless conversation, and she was mad she couldn't have brought up anything else. Lovino scoffed at her comment, and she looked at her hands.

"You're doing your job," Antonio was trying his hardest to be amiable, but grimaced as he said it despite himself.

_Her job_. The job that seemed to be getting her in quite a bit of trouble. She briefly considered getting reassigned, but pushed the thought away. She wanted for there to be a point in all of this shit.

"My _job_ will require me to research the Braginski's," Elizaveta said, realizing it was out of turn instantly, she closed her mouth sharply, a bit horrified.

Antonio scanned Elizaveta's face, he looked concerned.

Lovino spoke from the front. "Can we not talk about this?" He snapped.

Antonio nodded, more to himself than to anyone else.

Elizaveta sighed, this was tedious. She brought up what she had been bringing up lately when she didn't know what else to say. "How are you two feeling about the wedding?" She smirked ever so slightly when she said this, as she had already talked to Antonio about the wedding for about two hours today.

Antonio sighed in relief though, and she felt a little bit better about it. Lovino made a sound from the front that sounded like a groan, but Elizaveta wasn't sure.

"Have you decided what your eating yet?" Antonio asked her, it was one of the only subjects they hadn't elaborated on earlier today.

"We're getting a cake from a high class bakery in the city," Elizaveta said, pausing. "Roderich's in charge of that, though." She smiled, laughing slightly. "In all honesty I'm not sure what we're really having meal wise yet..."

Lovino seemed to sigh. "Liza, you're friends with the owner of a well rated restaurant, and you haven't even talked to me about catering the event?" He sounded surprisingly amused.

"Aw, Lovino, I couldn't," She voiced, almost forgetting about the Braginskis. Almost. "Does Mazzetto even cater?"

Antonio smiled, feigning amusement. "No, but we'd be willing to provide food for you and Roderich." Even though that was what Lovino had meant, he still scoffed.

"I didn't say it was free," Lovino started, a tad bitter, though Elizaveta believed he wasn't serious. "And we? Are you fucking serious, don't act like you help me with the food."

Antonio actually smiled this time, and those his smile wasn't large it was happy. "Huh? I help you all the time?"

"Eating all of my fucking tomatoes isn't helping, T." Lovino snapped, glancing to him in the back of the car. Antonio smiled at him, his smile lengthening when Lovino called him _T_.

Elizaveta was recognizing buildings and was soon looking at the ones that were right around her apartment building. She sighed to herself, she needed to talk to someone about the Braginskis, and briefly checked her phone to see if Kirkland had texted her.

Kirkland hadn't texted her, but she smiled at a text from Kiku. _He showed up with Alfred, it seems you were right._

She had expected to be, maybe not so soon, but at some point. Alfred was just one of those people she knew would pursue his interests in others and just in general. He was cute, and Elizaveta vaguely remembered him from highschool, she felt as if he might've even been her type if they had known each other better.

The car was stopped and Lovino turned around in his seat, he looked slightly annoyed, but his resting face was rather bitchy, so Elizaveta wasn't sure.

She heard Antonio ask her to say hello to Roderich, and she nodded instinctively. Elizaveta looked back at them, wondering if they were going to say anything else, both Lovino and Antonio were quiet.

Taking this as a message, she opened the car door, pulling down her dress and nearly stepping out.

"Wait," Antonio said, his eyebrows knit together in thought. "I would like for you to take me seriously with the Braginski thing..." Elizaveta slumped back down in her seat, eyeing him in scathing annoyance. He shifted "I don't think you understand-"

She attempted a playful smile, hoping she hadn't twisted her face into a too terrifying expression. "Wow, Toni. It's nice to know you expect so much from me," Her voice dripped with sarcasm, and he frowned.

_This isn't going to go anywhere. _Elizaveta thought glumly, _we're both too stubborn about this._

She crossed her arms and tapped her heel on the floor of the car, waves of slight aggravation probably coming off of her. Elizaveta shook her head "I don't want to fight, guys, we'll talk about this later," She moved towards the door, stepping up and out of the car, turning back to wave goodbye to Antonio.

His expression was nearly hostile, but far more concerned. "You'd be shooting in the dark, Liza. Don't waste your time." He said it softly, cautiously.

Elizaveta smiled. "Even if I'm shooting in the dark, at one point I'm going to hit something." Her tone was wry, and feeling that was a rather good way to end the conversation, she shut the door.

...Only to have it opened by Antonio. She resisted rolling her eyes, as he looked hurt. "Why isn't my word enough proof, amiga?"

Elizaveta opened her mouth, then closed it, a flash of serious anger flashing over her this time. "Proof," She muttered softly, breathing out in exasperation. "You know what?" Elizaveta snapped, both Antonio and Lovino looked panicked by her harshness. She continued anyways "All this is _proving _is that you two know more than you're letting on about this!"

Antonio nearly moved farther into the car, and she saw Lovino's jaw clench. She breathed out, calming down and pulling at an earring. Elizaveta softened her tone and expression "Look, I'm not going to _pry_ further, it's been a long day. I just- I want you two to be careful, okay? This is my job, I'll be fine."

She stepped away from the car, leaving Antonio and Lovino in their shock, retreating to a fitful night of sleep.

Back in the car, Antonio grabbed Lovino's hand and they sat in the dark for many moments.

The silence was apologetic for more than one reason.

* * *

_Eyyyyyy. It's over. This one is kind of boring whoops. It's also kind of all over the place because I'm not good at outlining my plans. Like I knew what I wanted to do, but I also didn't ahaha. Thanks for reading! I greatly appreciate reviews/follows/favorites. Anything ist gut. Next chapter we're going back to Arthur so yay, there's a reason to keep reading this story!_

**Probably You: Oh shit there's more bold this week? Ew.**

**Don't worry you are under no obligation to read any of this, as I'll say again, it isn't important yet. I'd like to thank anyone who gave me feedback on my news from two weeks ago, and yes I am still planning on writing the story as of now, I will probably write it regardless but just not for NaNoWriMo if people say they don't want the story then. There is no news of it for now other than that it is officially a go and planned for November.**

**IMPORTANT FOR PEEPS WHO DON'T KNOW ABOUT/ HAVE READ THE BOLD: Most of my info about this is posted in the last chapter, and I'd love more opinions on it, so if you're interested please check it out!**


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